DISTRIBUTION OF GOLD DEPOSITS IN ALASKA. 961 
Juneau. A considerable number of small veins of rather rich 
ore occur on the southern side of this basin. Although the 
basin was formerly occupied by a large glacier, the diminished 
upper end of which is still visible from the locality, parts of the 
side are covered with rotten rock in place, carrying gold quartz 
seams and forming what I call a ‘“‘saprolitic placer.’ After the 
retreat of the glacier the basin was occupied by a lake, and the 
lake beds are successfully worked for gold by the hydraulic pro- 
cess, a very unusual case. Sheep Creek basin is separated from 
Silver Bow basin by a divide, and the same series of quartz veins 
extends into it. Some fifty-five miles to the southeast of Juneau 
lies Sumdum, at which there is a very promising vein already 
yielding some bullion, although the property is only being devel- 
oped. At Seward City, near Berner’s Bay, about fifty miles 
northwest of Juneau, there are also veins which are extremely 
rich at some points, and are yielding gold. On Admiralty 
Island, at Funters Bay, about thirty miles from Juneau, there are 
promising veins on which it is expected that mining will be 
commenced next year. Near Sitka, especially along Silver Bay 
and in the country to the southeast of it, there are numerous 
veins some of which have yielded a little gold. Most of them 
seem rather low grade, and the development is insufficient to 
justify an opinion as to their future. 
At Yakutat Bay, just to the eastward of Mt. St. Elias, there 
has been some beach mining, as there has also been along the 
west shore of Kadiak Island. The ease of working and the 
unlimited supply of sand make beach mining on the western 
coast of North America very attractive, but the capriciousness 
of the distribution of pay streaks, and the difficulty of saving 
the gold, commonly rob such undertakings Or SuCCEsSs, Il aia 
not aware that any notable profit has been made in a single 
case from beach mines, either in Alaska or to the southward. 
Nevertheless the amount of gold which occurs in this way is 
enormous. On Kadiak Island, in Uyak Bay, there are several 
promising looking gold quartz veins of a couple of feet in 
thickness. Prospecting is going on there, and should be more 
