had been unable to bear the sufferings and had given up his life.

Thousands died in the awful trip across the continent, and thousands more, who thought to make an easier journey by sea, died of fevers contracted in crossing the unhealthy Isthmus of Panama, the strip of land that divides North and South America, separating the Atlantic from the Pacific Ocean.

The historian Bancroft says that while between four and five hundred millions of gold were obtained in the seven years following the find in '49, the gold cost, in human life and labor, three times what it was actually worth.

A few of the Forty-niners gained the riches they sought, but the greater part of the gold-seekers barely made a living by the most exhausting toil.

As regards the Klondike, all the miners who have returned declare that the life is so hard that only the very healthy can stand it. In spite of this warning, weak and delicate men, and men who have lived in luxury all their lives, are setting their faces toward the north, to undertake a life of untiring labor and privation, in the intense cold of an Arctic region in winter, and the most extreme heat in the three short months of summer.

During this latter season the sun does not set till 10.30, and rises again at 3 A.M. There is no darkness, midnight being almost as light as midday. During the hot months all kinds of insects pester the inhabitants. The horseflies and mosquitoes swarm in such numbers that the rigors of winter are considered preferable to the warmth of summer.

In addition to the horrors of the climate, there is no real supply of food obtainable from the Klondike region. There is practically no farming done, and so no crops to amount to anything are raised. Practically all the food used at the gold-fields must be carried there by the miners, and the method of travel is such that it is impossible for one man to carry all the food he will need until the open season comes round again, and he can secure fresh provisions.

When the winter once sets in in the Klondike country the people are completely shut off from the rest of the world, the only way to reach civilization being by a long and exhausting journey on snowshoes over mountains and through fearful gorges, through which it would be impossible to carry baggage. The only communication with the outer world is through the mail, which reaches the district twice during the winter, the mail-carriers being mountaineers who understand how to travel these Arctic mountains over glaciers and snowy peaks.

The returning miners have all told the same story of the journey and the lack of provisions, but, in spite of this, crowds of men are hurrying into this country which is already on the verge of famine. Those who have taken food with them are unable to get it carried to its destination, and it is said that the road is now blocked with it. The only means of transportation is by Indians on mule-back; the mules are very scarce, and the Indians only work when they feel like it. The chances are that many men will be starving in the Klondike this winter, while barrels and boxes of food will be piled mountain-high at the last station, waiting to be carried through the long succession of waterways and portages. A portage is a place between lakes and rivers where the waters become so shallow or rapid that they cannot be navigated, and the boats have to be lifted ashore and carried overland until it is possible to take to the water again.