here, awaiting cold weather, when they will be butchered and taken to Dawson on rafts. Shot Rink Rapids, six miles below Five Fingers, at 8.45 a. m. Boat keeps to the right, where there is no danger, as the channel is wide and deep. Thirty miles below Rink Rapids passed party with three large rafts, which are being taken to Fort Selkirk for the purpose of transporting beef to Dawson. It was necessary to come this far up to get good logs. At the mouth of the Pelly, five miles above Fort Selkirk, hail two miners poling up the river. Their only reply is: "If you haven't plenty of grub, you had better turn back." Landed at Fort Selkirk, which is located on the west bank of the river, fifty-five miles below Five Fingers and 160 miles above Dawson, at 3.30 p.m.

There is a trading post here conducted by Harper & Ladue, and they have a number of good buildings. There is a large vegetable garden here, and about 150 head of cabbage are maturing in the open air. Between fifty and sixty bushels of potatoes were raised during the season. The Church of England has a fine mission here, but it is now deserted on account of the lack of supplies. There is quite a large Indian village at the upper end of the settlement. On the door of the store is the following notice: "Parties contemplating going out this season take notice that no provisions of any kind can be obtained here, except, possibly, a little moose meat, and dog salmon in small quantities for dog feed. No freight steamer has been here for two years. No flour can be had." Inside the shelves are barren, and the trader appeals to everyone coming down the river for a little flour and sugar. All the Indians, and even the post trader, have a lean and hungry look, and there is a world of pathos in the simple remark of the latter, "I don't know how we are going to get through the winter." A register is kept at the store of those passing down the river. There are 1,876 names on the register to-day, and about 500 have been counted who passed without landing, making a total of about 2,400 who have gone to the new gold fields by this route during the present season. Met three or four polers from the Klondike here, on their way to Dyea. One of them, a miner, who has been eight days in making the 160 miles from Dawson, displayed drafts amounting to $32,000, the result of eight months' work. States that he would have spent the winter on his claim, but that he was obliged to get out on account of the scarcity of provisions, leaving his partner in charge with their scanty stores. Jack Dalton has sixtyfour head of cattle here, and Cameron, Franklin & Heaney have sixty head. Waiting for cold weather before butchering, and will then take beef to Dawson on rafts. They are selling beef for 50 cents per pound by the quarter. There are thousands of acres of good grazing land in this vicinity. Old Fort Selkirk, which was located across the river, two or three miles above the present post, was burned by the Indians in 1852, and the ruins of the chimneys can still be seen. It was one of the principal posts of the Hudson Bay Company in this region. Remained t at the trading post.

September 16.-Broke camp at 6 a. m. We are now in the Yukon proper. It is about half a mile wide and very deep, with current of four miles an hour. Three miles below Fort Selkirk passed a flock of 600 sheep, which are grazing on the lowlands on the west bank of the river. Rafts are now being constructed for their transportation below. Owner hailed our boat and offered $15 a day and board to two men to assist him. Boys all declined, as they are seeking gold in the abstract rather than the concrete. On the east side of the river, extending for eight miles below the mouth of the Pelly, is a basaltic plateau, supposed to have come from a volcano twenty or thirty miles up the Pelly. It has a perpendicular front, five or six hundred feet in height, and is known as the Upper Ramparts. Passed several parties getting out logs for building purposes. Camped for the night at 5.30, about fifty miles below Fort Selkirk.

September 17.-Left camp at 7.15 a. m. Weather still delightfully bright and pleasant. Passed the mouth of White River at 12.30. White River, which comes into the Yukon from the west about ninety miles below Fort Selkirk, is a large stream, having a very swift current, and discharging into the Yukon an immense volume of water containing a white substance, supposed to be volcanic ash, that discolors the main stream for a long distance. Below the White River the Yukon breaks up into numerous channels, and there are many islands and sandbars. Looks here like the Missouri between Atchison and Leavenworth. Reached the mouth of Stewart River, ten miles below White River, at 3.10. Stewart River flows into the Yukon from the east, and is a broad, sluggish stream at its mouth. Quite a number of people from upriver have stopped here to get out house logs, as it is reported that they are selling for $300 a set in Dawson and are hard to find lower down. Several prospectors here, just returned from the Stewart River country. They report that nothing has been struck during the season on that stream or its tributaries. Mail carrier was evidently misinformed or unreliable. The Koukuk, a 10-ton stern-wheel steamboat, is tied up here. She has been three days in coming from Dawson, about seventy miles. below. Has a half ton of flour and other provisions for Fort Selkirk, and the captain expects to reach that point in a week. If the Koukuk is a representative type of the Yukon steamboat, it would take no prophet to predict a famine. Captain offered $10 a day and board for men to make the trip to Fort Selkirk and return, but could find no one willing to work on those terms. He draws a gloomy picture of affairs at Dawson, stating that there have been no new strikes and that the country is filling up with people half provided with food supplies. Camped at 6 o'clock on the east bank of the river, about six miles below the mouth of the Stewart.

September 22.-Left camp at 8.15 a. m. Party has been getting out house logs for the past four days. Reached Sixty Mile Post, twentyone miles below Stewart River, at 10.30, and stopped for a few minutes. The post is on the east side of the river, opposite the mouth of Sixty

Mile River, which comes into the Yukon from the west. There are some good placer creeks on the head of Sixty Mile, and about one hundred miners have been accustomed to winter here. Harper & Ladue own the trading post, which is now deserted on account of the Klondike excitement, being in charge of an Indian. The sawmill, which was formerly located here, is now in operation at Dawson. There is a fine vegetable garden here, and large cabbages have been raised during the season, while about 150 bushels of potatoes were raised and found a ready sale at Dawson for $1 per pound. Camped for the night at 6 o'clock, about thirty miles below Sixty Mile.

September 23.-Left camp at 8 a. m., and arrived in Dawson at 11 a. m. Landed at the upper end of town, which is located in a swamp and oppressively crude.

THE KLONDIKE.

The Klondike River enters the Yukon from the southeast, six miles above old Fort Reliance. It is about 150 miles long, and has its source in a high range of mountains which separates it from the Stewart River and its tributaries. At its mouth an island divides the stream into two nearly equal channels, each of which is about 150 feet wide and four or five feet deep, at a medium stage of water. The stream is very swift, and rapids occur at frequent intervals, making it exceedingly difficult to navigate with canoes. Its waters are clear and shallow. It has been known for many years as one of the best streams in the country for salmon fishing, and during the season large numbers of Indians camp on its shores for the purpose of catching and drying salmon. For several years gold has been known to exist on the main stream, but it has never been found there in sufficient quantities to justify working under present conditions as to cost of supplies.

The original discovery of gold in paying quantities in the Klondike district was made by George W. Cormack, who came to the Yukon country twelve years ago from Wisconsin, and who had been engaged in prospecting and in trading with the Indians and miners at various points on the river. On June 22, 1896, Cormack and Loren Cooper left Forty Mile for the mouth of the Klondike. It was Cormack's intention to spend the summer in fishing on the Klondike, while Cooper proposed to develop two quartz leads situated just below the mouth of that stream on the west side of the Yukon, and directly opposite the present site of Dawson. They were thus engaged in the early part of August, when Robert Henderson, an oldtime prospector, came down the Klondike and told Cormack that he had found on the headwaters of Gold Bottom Creek some ground that would pay 15 cents to the pan.

Cormack accompanied Henderson to Gold Bottom, but not being favorably impressed with the prospects, returned alone to the mouth of the Klondike, coming down the creek now known as Bonanza. On