In the Arctic Regions. 13 
mattawa and Steel Rivers. Our observations place 
this spot in latitude 56 deg. 22 min. 32 sec. N., longi- 
tude 93 deg. 1 min. 37 sec, W. It is forty-eight 
miles and a half from York Factory, 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 suc- 
ceeded in getting about ten miles above the mouth of 
the river, before the close of the day compelled 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 pro- 
gress could be made by tracking. Steel River presents 
much beautiful scenery ; it winds through a narrow, 
but well-wooded valley, which, at every turn disclos- 
ed 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 prin- 
cipal masses of color into each other. The scene 
