THE KLONDYKE GOLDFIELDS.

Otago Witness, Volume 25, Issue 2321, 25 August 1898, Page 28

THE KLONDYKE GOLDFIELDS.

We have been permitted to make the following extracts from letters received from Mr William Paccy, well known in Dunedin and Alexandra, and hope to supplement them as further letters come to hand : — We sailed from Auckland in the Cape Otway, and arrived at Honolulu on the 29th March. Left there on the following day, and reached Vancouver, 8.C., on April 10th, with 250 passengers on board, after a very rough, passage. We had ample time tojook arc und here and provide our outfit for Klondyke. We left Vancouver on the 15tli in the s.s-. Packshan, and called at Vidara, Port Mange, and Juneau and arrived at Skagwag

on the 22nd April. The scenery steaming up the channel is magnificent. The trees are in full bloom. The ranges on either side are very high, and covered with snoir. Salmon is very plentiful. The whole country is covered with very heavy timber. Skagwag is a pretty rough place — no police, and no Jaw or oi'de-r. We had to carry a loadcci revolver for self-protection. The population is about 5000. The daylight at this season lasts from 3 a.m. till l 0 p.m. We had a; very rough time crossing the Chilcoot Pass. The track is a frightful one — only room for a sledge, ancl covered with a living mass of men. horpes, dogs, etc. It is sur j

prising what loads some of the dogs carry. Meal are As each on the track, and horsefeed Is a pound. There is no grass. We reached Lake Bennet on May P, it the spot our tent is on. This is a very township of tents. lam sending you a photo of Lake Bennefc, and have marked on* it tbe spot our tent is on. This is a very busy place, and contains about 3000 people. There are several women and a few children — not many of the latter. Beef is Is & pound, and terrible stuff at that. A great) many people are snowblind. It ta 7 -:es strong people to stand, this climate. lam keeping in first-rate trim myself. There is na night here now — daylight the whole 9% hoius. On May 31 we finished our boat r and as every boat has to be registered ancl numbered, ours is No. 1645. We christened it the "Alexandra," after the old spot. I have sent you a small model of the sledges we used in crossing the pass. All ther flowers hez-e are wild ones, and are now in full bloom. There is a general stampede from here now, as the ice is breaking up fast. A great many have been drowned on the lake through the ice giving way under them. The hotels from Skagway all along the track are just built on the snow. We have had only one day's rain since leaving; Vancouver. Ted Gauchet and I had a walk up to the Rapids last night. They are very dangerous to negotiate We saw a number of boats dashed to pieces, and the men clambered on to the rocks, and had to remain there for hours till some one took them off. The Rapids are only half a mile from our camp. All the at omen here wear long boots and bloomers. I am sometimes puzzled to know if I am talking to a man ov a \vomai>. We shall leave here on June 5 for SteAvark River, which is 70 miles this side of Dawson City. I will write you asjain as soon as we cross the White Horse Rapids. You Avill see by the papers I am sending you tha accounts from the goldficlds are really wonderful. Out of all the thousands that I have seeu here, I haA'e only met one man I knew, and ho was a Dunedinite.