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قراءة كتاب Klondyke Nuggets A Brief Description of the Great Gold Regions in the Northwest

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Klondyke Nuggets
A Brief Description of the Great Gold Regions in the Northwest

Klondyke Nuggets A Brief Description of the Great Gold Regions in the Northwest

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دار النشر: Project Gutenberg
الصفحة رقم: 7

mountain side. Time after time the men would slip back several inches, but they recovered themselves and went at it again.

Finally, the summit was gained, McLeod being the first of the party to reach the top. After resting and changing their clothes the descent was commenced. McLeod and his chums purchased sleighs, on which they loaded their goods and hauled for five miles. This was extremely laborious work, and the men were so used up working in the scorching sun that they were compelled to work at nights and sleep during the day. Two days after the descent began the sleighs were abandoned, and the men packed the goods for three miles and a half. They were fortunate in securing the services of a man who had two horses to convey the goods to Lake Lindeman.

McLeod says the worry in getting over the pass is terrible, and he has no desire to repeat the experience. He advises all who go in to have their goods packed all the way from Dyea to Lake Lindeman. It costs 17 or 18 cents per pound for packing.

McLeod expected that Klondyke would not be reached before July 25.

I think it specially valuable for the reader to give him the approximate distances to Fort Cudahy, which is below Dawson City via the various routes.

This table of distances has been prepared by Mr. James Ogilvie, and I also give a number of his notes which will be of great value to the traveller when making the trip from Juneau to Dawson City.

APPROXIMATE DISTANCES TO FORT CUDAHY.

VIA ST. MICHAEL.
                                                   Miles.
San Francisco to Dutch Harbor 2,400
Seattle or Victoria to Dutch Harbor 2,000
Dutch Harbor to St. Michael 750
St. Michael to Cudahy 1,600

VIA TAIYA PASS.
Victoria to Taiya 1,000
Taiya to Cudahy 650

VIA STIKINE RIVER.
Victoria to Wrangell 750
Wrangell to Telegraph Creek 150
Telegraph Creek to Teslin Lake 150
Teslin Lake to Cudahy 650

DISTANCES FROM HEAD OF TAIYA INLET.

                                                   Miles
Head of canoe navigation, Taiya River 5.90
Forks of Taiya River 8.38
Summit of Taiya Pass 14.76
Landing at Lake Lindeman 23.06
Foot of Lake Lindeman 27.49
Head of Lake Bennet 28.09
Boundary line B.C. and N.W.T. (Lat 60°) 38.09
Foot of Lake Bennet 53.85
Foot of Caribou Crossing (Lake Nares) 56.44
Foot of Tagish Lake 73.25
Head of Marsh Lake 78.15
Foot of Marsh Lake 97.21
Head of Miles Cañon 122.94
Foot of Miles Cañon 123.56
Head of White Horse Rapids 124.95
Foot of White Horse Rapids 125.33
Tahkeena River 139.92
Head of Lake Labarge 153.07
Foot of Lake Labarge 184.22
Teslintoo River 215.88
Big Salmon River 249.33
Little Salmon River 285.54
Five Finger Rapids 344.83
Pelly River 403.29
White River 499.11
Stewart River 508.91
Sixty-Mile Creek 530.41
Dawson City—The Principal Mining Town 575.70
Fort Reliance 582.20
Forty-Mile River 627.08
Boundary Line. 667.43

"Another route is now being explored between Telegraph Creek and Teslin Lake and will soon be opened. Telegraph Creek is the head of steamer navigation on the Stikine River and is about 150 miles from Teslin Lake. The Yukon is navigable for steamers from its mouth to Teslin Lake, a distance of 2,300 miles. A road is being located by the Dominion Government. A grant of $2,000 has been made by the province of British Columbia for opening it.

"J. Dalton, a trader, has used a route overland from Chilkat Inlet to Fort Selkirk. Going up the Chilkat and Klaheela Rivers, he crosses the divide to the Tahkeena River and continues northward over a fairly open country practicable for horses. The distance from the sea to Fort Selkirk is 350 miles.

"Last summer a Juneau butcher sent 40 head of cattle to Cudahy. G. Bounds, the man in charge, crossed the divide over the Chilkat Pass, followed the shore of Lake Arkell and, keeping to the east of Dalton's trail, reached the Yukon just below the Rink Rapids. Here the cattle were slaughtered and the meat floated down on a raft to Cudahy, where it retailed at $1 a pound.

"It is proposed to establish a winter road somewhere across the country travelled over by Dalton and Bounds. The Yukon cannot be followed, the ice being too much broken, so that any winter road will have to be overland. A thorough exploration is now being made of all the passes at the head of Lynn Canal and of the upper waters of the Yukon. In a few months it is expected that the best routes for reaching the district from Lynn Canal will be definitely known.

"It is said by those familiar with the locality that the storms which rage in the upper altitudes of the coast range during the greater part of the time, from October to March, are terrific. A man caught in one of them runs the risk of losing his life, unless he can reach shelter in a short time. During the summer there is nearly always a wind blowing from the sea up Chatham Strait and Lynn Canal, which lie in almost a straight line with each other, and at the head of Lynn Canal are Chilkat and Chilkoot Inlets. The distance from the coast down these channels to the open sea is about 380 miles. The mountains on each side of the water confine the currents of air, and deflect inclined currents in the direction of the axis of the channel, so that there is nearly always a strong wind blowing up the channel. Coming from the sea, this wind is heavily charged with moisture, which is precipitated when the air currents strike the mountains, and the fall of rain and snow is consequently very heavy.

"In Chilkat Inlet there is not much shelter from the south wind, which renders it unsafe for ships calling there. Capt. Hunter told me he would rather visit any other part of the coast than Chilkat.

"To carry the survey from the island across to Chilkoot Inlet I had to get up on the mountains north of Haines mission, and from there could see both inlets. Owing to the bad weather I could get no observation for azimuth, and had to produce the survey from Pyramid Island to Taiya Inlet by reading the angles of deflection between the courses. At Taiya Inlet I got my first observation, and deduced the azimuths of my courses up to that point. Taiya Inlet has evidently been the valley of a glacier; its sides are steep and smooth from glacial action; and this, with the wind almost constantly blowing landward,

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