GEOLOGY OF THE KLONDIKE GOLD FIELDS. 303 



short distances of one another, should be so larg-ely charged with 

 gokl, unless they have obtained it from a common source; nor can 

 the fact, as received and reported by most miners, but of the full 

 import of which I have not yet fully made up my mind, that the 

 different streams carry different classes of gold, be argued aw^ay as 

 having no significance in this connection. Claim holders profess 

 at most times to be able to distinguish between Eldorado gold and 

 that of Bonanza, between the gold of Bonanza and that of Hunker 

 or Dominion, and so on ; and there is no question that marked differ- 

 ences in color and in the contours of the coarse flakes and nuggets 

 do present themselves, and even in narrower limits than has here 

 been outlined. Thus, the gold from "French Hill, abreast of Claim 

 17 on Eldorado, has a distinctiveness that is largely its own, and 

 hardly follows the gold of the rest of the Eldorado tract; and the 

 same is true of the gold of Skookum Hill in its relations to that of 

 Bonanza, and also of that of Victoria Gulch. Moreover, the recent 

 assays that have been made by the Bank of British jSTorth America 

 and the Canadian Bank of Commerce, in Dawson, of the gold of 

 the different creeks and gulches show plainly that marked differ- 

 ences as to fineness are distinctive qualities — at least they ap- 

 pear to be such at the present time. Thus, while Eldorado and 

 Bonanza gold generally assays but about $15.50 or $15.80 to the 

 ounce. Dominion gold shows as high as $17.80, and Hunker close 

 to $18.50; the gold of Bear Creek, a minor tributary of the Klon- 

 dike, is reported to actually give $19.20 to the oimce, falling only 

 behind the almost pure specimens that have been reported from 

 American Creek and Mynook, and to which a A'aluation of nearly 

 $20 has been given. H these assumed facts continue to be proved 

 true, then they must argue in favor of a distribution of gold from 

 largely localized spots or areas, a conclusion that is also pointed to 

 by a number of other circumstances. On the other hand, there are 

 some facts which point in quite the opposite direction, and some of 

 these mil be referred to later on. 



ISI one of the mountains of the region even approximates the snow 

 line, which would here prol)ably occupy a position not much below 

 six thousand feet, and on the northern face perhaps even rise to 

 seven thousand feet. Not a vestige of snow was seen by me when 

 crossing the Dome, not even in the most sheltered hollows, a condi- 

 tion that at first strikes one as strange, considering that in so many 

 parts of our own mountains of equal or less elevation snow may be 

 found lingering through a long period of the summer months. But 

 here the greatly protracted hours of summer daylight and heat, to- 

 gether with the correspondingly diminished period of night, when 

 a regelation might take place or melting at least could be arrested, 



