the klondike gold district. 283 



Geo(;raphicai, Position. 

 The district lies in the far off north-western jtart of Canada, close 

 to the east side and near the central part of the strai|[jht line along 

 the 141st meridian which divides the extremity of the Dominion from 

 Alaska. The intersection of latitude 64 deg". north, and lonp-itude 

 139 deg. west, is on Hunker Creek, within the district. 



Climate .vnd Conditions. 

 Being slightly north of the Arctic circle, the winters are severe, 

 but tlie long days of summer are quite hot. The mild air from the 

 I'acitic Ocean has an important effect, and the climate is healthy for 

 a white population. The whole region is covered with a northern 

 iorest of white and black spruce, aspen, balsam-poplar, and wliite 

 birch, all of large enough size for use in building, mining, railway 

 construction, &c. Hay and all the garden vegetables of the north tem- 

 perate zone grow in perfection, and wheat almost ripens. I mention 

 these things because an exaggerated idea of the climate has gone 

 forth. The district is connected with the other world by a fleet of good 

 steamers plying up tlie Yukon to the town of White Horse, 300 miles 

 southward in a straight line, or 350 by the river, and the White Pass 

 Pailway, 90 miles long, from thence to Skag-way, at the head of Lynn 

 Canal, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean. There is also a telegraph line 

 whicli forms a part, of the continental system. So that the conditions 

 of life are not too hard, and many men with their families have 

 remained here continuously in comfort long enough to acquire wealth. 

 When they return to live in their old homes in the United States and 

 Canada, their places are taken "by others. In the town of Dawson, at 

 the north-west corner of the district, there is a strong detachment 

 of the rjoyal North-west Mounted Police, living in permanent ban*acks, 

 and, although the Klondike district is 5,060 miles from Halifax by 

 the travelled route, law and order are as perfectly maintained 

 throughout the whole region as in any part of England. 



Geology. 



The geology of that part of the Yukon region which includes the 

 Klondike district is rather complicated. The rocks comprise repre- 

 sentatives of various chronological divisions of the geological scale 

 from the oldest to the newest, and also of every kind of physical 

 action to which rocks of all kinds may have been subjected. Those 

 within the Klondike district itself are of both igiieous and sedimentaiy 

 character, but most of theira have imdergone such changes in the 

 course of their histories as to render it difficult to discover their 

 original condition. The age of the bulk of the gold-bearing portion 

 appears to the writer to correspond with the Huronian series or system 

 of the more easterly parts of the Dominion. Tlie Laurentian system 

 may also be present. 



A few words as to the meaning of these terms may be useful in 

 this connection : We regard the Laurenti;m as the oldest rocks known 

 — the foundation of the rocky crust of the earth. A lower and an 

 upper division may be recognised in various parts of their distribution, 

 which is very wide, comprising most of the north-eastern portion of 

 IMorth America, including Greenland. The rocks of the lower division 

 are composed of only a few of the commonest minerals, quartz, and 



