A LETTER FROM KLONDIKE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2355, 13 April 1899, Page 25

A LETTER FROM KLONDIKE.

Mr M'Cormack, who will be remembered as connected with the Otago Acclimatisation Society, is now in Klondyke. Writing to a friend in Dunedin, under date January 26, he gives some interesting particulars respecting that country He says that the want of proper communication is greatly felt in getting an outfit of some 30001b on to the field. The Chilcoot Pass is 3650 ft high, and is about; 16 miles from the head of the nearest arm of the sea, known as the Lyn Canal. But on tlie coastal range, many of the peaks run up to 4000 ft or 5000 ft, Mount St. Elms reaching 19,000 ft. Between the coastal range and the Rockies lies the valley of the Yukon River, through which the drainage finds its way to the sea, desoendiug the lakes and rivers from Lake Bennet to Dawson, which is about 600 miles, the fall is only 1000 ft. From Dawson down the river to its mouth at Kamschatka Straits, the distance is 2050 miles. Referring to the fish, ho says they are very plentiful. Three varieties of salmon go up to spawn, the local names of which are the sockeye, tho king, and the hookbill. The first-named is got from 81b to 201b. A mounted specimen of the king he saw in the museum in Victoria, 8.C., which weighed 901b. An Englishman, Sir Charles Musgrave, angled it with the spoon bait. The hookbill is a very inferior and undesirable fish, being used principally for dog food. Many of the salmon after running up this 2000 odd miles, and some go 400 or 500 further, are very much exhausted, and in descending again many are lost under the ice. The white fish, grayling, and the speckled trout are also got up to 101b. With reference to the fauna, Mr M'Cormack says there are four varieties of deer, the moose, the black tail, the elk, and the cariboo. Last autumn he &hot a cariboo (buck), which weighed 5501b dres&ed, while seme of the moose go 30cwt or llcwt. Th.j elk are got up to 8001b. Both the elk and the moose are easily domesticated, but the cariboo is not. The latter is migratory in its habits, sometimes travelling in droves of thousands together, going south in the beginning of winter and north in spring. Tlie moose deer would make a good cross with the red deer, they being very similar barring the size. He saw v m&ose worked in a sleigh, and it was quite tractable. The United States Government imported 300 reindeer to carry the mail up the river from Alaska in winter. They will travel 100 miles a dny, drawing a light bleigh.

There are also three or four varieties of bears, some of which for the safety of thi» sportsman require to be shot dead. Last summer one was mortally wounded on Sulphur Creek, turned and killed the hunter, and then died himself. Some grow to a great size. Sir M'Cormack measured the footprints of ene, J>nd was surprised to find that it was 14m long. The carcase of this one was calculated to weigh a ton. The climate is too severe for many birds, but there are ptarmigan and another variety of grouse, and wild* geese are also to be seen flying overhead in large flocks, which is a sure sign that winter is appioaching, and preparations are made accordingly. The climate there must be anything but genial. To use Mr M'Cormack's own words, a winter of eight months with the thermometer at 50deg Fahr. below zero is no joke. Working at a windlass, or at any sort of employment above ground , is anything but pleasant. The goldfield would be all right if it were in a temperate climate. He compares the climate to that of Siberia, with this difference : that the people who go to Siberia do not require to find payable claims. As may be supposed, the country has no agricultural value whatever, and its flora is of a very limited character, confined principally to mosses

The mining regulations are badly constructed and badly administered by a weak and vacillating commissioner, and all the clerks under him arc perfect " Uriah Heeps." The rules and regulations are continually altered, and this causes much annoyance. But the charges are being investigated, and hopes are entertained that eventually things will be amicably settled. Mr M'Cormack wishes there were men of the A. 0. Begg stamp in power, as the American character predominates to a considerable extent — " Gas, exaggeration, and humbug," the exaggerated reports of the field having brought togethei all the notorious characters fiom the American mining camps. Mr M'Garmack lias not forgotten that he was at an* ttae oonnected with an

Acclimatisation Society, and is still keeping an eye open for anything that may be wortn acclimatising.