GOLD IN SOLOMON AND NIUKLUK BASINS. 149 
BEAR CREEK. 
The gravels which form the broad flat through which the Niukluk 
flows were prospected in the winter of 1905-6 on Bear Creek. Two 
shafts were sunk to a depth of about 50 feet, and fine sand, which was 
reported to be in many respects similar to beach sand, was found, 
rhe excitement attendant on the finding of old beaches in the Nome 
region has so stimulated the imagination of many of the prospectors 
that they see beach sand in all kinds of gravel. The so-called beach 
sand was not seen by the writer, and so no definite report can be made 
311 the statement, which, if true, is of considerable importance in 
jnraveling the complex history of the gold-bearing portions of Seward 
Peninsula. The scanty information at hand, however, leads to 
:nuch doubt of the sea-beach origin of these sands. The reason for 
the doubt rests largely on the shape and size of the basin that would 
"esult if the whole region were depressed so as to bring the so-called 
Deach down to sea level. Such a change would result in a narrow 
estuary, nowhere much over 4 miles in width, and in some places — as, 
; or instance, 6 miles north of White Mountain — not over three-fourths 
}f a mile. In such a body of water, wave and current action, the pre- 
dominant activities in beach formation, would be very ineffective, 
ind muds, silts, and river wash would be much more characteristic 
than clean beach sands. In this connection it is perhaps desirable 
to point out that the presence or absence of gold is in no measure 
dependent on sea beaches except under certain special conditions 
such as exist around Nome. The United States has a shore line com- 
posed of thousands of miles of beaches, and yet not 1 per cent of this 
mtire length is auriferous in economic quantities. The idea, there- 
Pore, that old beaches and rich gold deposits are necessarily inter- 
3hangeable terms should be discarded 
MELSING CREEK. 
On Melsing Creek, which was formerly one of the most productive 
streams in the district, not very much gold has been taken out during 
the last season. This was largely due to the extremely unfavorable 
weather conditions. It was so dry that only in the latter part of the 
season could enough water be obtained for mining purposes. When 
it did rain, so much water came down that it could not be handled by 
the miners, and consequently much of the rich ground was flooded. 
At the time of the writer's visit the only work in progress was near 
the junction of Basin and Melsing creeks. At this place the course 
of the pay streak, which lies only a few feet above the present stream 
level, is very sinuous and suggests that these gravels were laid down 
by a stream of relatively small size meandering widely on a flat slope. 
A. feature of some interest was the occurrence of large granite and 
