OF THE POLAR SEA. 45 
including the windings of the river. Steel River, 
through which our course lay, is about three 
hundred yards wide at its mouth; its banks have 
more elevation than those of Hayes’ River, but 
they shelve more gradually down to the stream, 
and afford a tolerably good towing path, which 
compensates, in some degree, for the rapids and 
frequent shoals that impede its navigation. We 
succeeded in getting about ten miles above the 
mouth of the river, before the close of day com- 
pelled us to disembark. 
We made an effort, on the morning of the 13th, 
‘to stem the current under sail, but as the course 
of the river was very serpentine, we found that 
greater progress could be made by tracking 
Steel River presents much beautiful scenery ; 
it winds through a narrow, but well wooded, 
valley, which at every turn disclosed to us an 
agreeable variety of prospect, rendered more 
picturesque by the effect of the season on the 
foliage, now ready to drop from the trees. The 
light yellow of the fading poplars formed a fine 
"contrast to the dark evergreen of the spruce, whilst 
the willows of an intermediate hue, served to 
shade the two principal masses of colour into 
each other. The scene was occasionally enli- 
vened by the bright purple tints of the dogwood, 
blended with the browner shades of the dwarf 
