esult! This is of course absurd, but facts in
those days concerning discoveries were so marvellous that they were
easily confused with fiction. Thus Mr. Ogilvie, the Dominion Surveyor
and a personal friend of mine, told me that he went into one of the
richest claims one day and asked to be allowed to wash out a panful of
gold. The pay streak was very rich but standing at the bottom of the
shaft, and looking at it by the light of a candle, all that could be
seen was a yellowish looking dirt with here and there the sparkle of a
little gold. Ogilvie took out a big panful and started to wash it out,
while several miners stood around betting as to the result. Five hundred
dollars was the highest estimate, but when the gold was weighed it came
to a little over $590, or nearly L120. This I can vouch for as a fact.

A coach runs daily out from Dawson to the diggings about fifteen miles
away, but although the famous Bonanza and El Dorado Creeks are still
worth a visit,[79] I fancy the good old days are over here when fortunes
were made in a week and saloon keepers reaped a comfortable income by
sweeping up spilt gold dust every morning. Klondike is no longer a
region of giant nuggets and fabulous finds, for every inch of likely
ground has been prospected over and over again. Nevertheless many of the
creeks are doing well, notably that of "Last Chance," which may even
eclipse El Dorado when machinery has been brought to bear. Almost any
claim on "Last Chance" is now a sound investment, but this was about
the only creek which, during our stay, was attracting any serious
attention from outside.

[Footnote 79: Professor Angelo Heilprin has reported that El Dorado and
Bonanza gold generally assays but about $15.50 or $15.80 to the ounce.
Dominion gold shows as high as $17.80, while the gold of Bear Creek, a
minor tributary of the Klondike, is reported to give $19.20 to the
ounce.]

It is probably unnecessary to explain that, with one or two exceptions,
the gold in Alaska is obtained by placer-mining. This consists simply in
making a shaft to bedrock[80] and then tunnelling in various directions.
The pay dirt is hauled out by a small hand-windlass and piled up until
it is washed out. I am indebted to my friend Mr. Joseph Ladue, for the
following description of the various processes which follow excavation.

[Footnote 80: The depth to bedrock varies from fourteen to twenty feet.]

"The miner lifts a little of the finer gravel or sa