Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1898-03-06
RICHER THAN THE kLonDIkE.
Region of British Columbia That Is
 Rich with Gold.

Region of British Columbia That Is
 Rich with Gold.
 Lying between the Yukon basin and Cariboo is a vast, untrodden region, which offers tempting reward for thor ough exploration. The territory is continuation of that great gold-bearing belt of which California, Colorado, Ne- vada, Kootenay, Cariboo and the Yu- kon are sections.
 The riches of Cariboo were long ago unlocked to the world, and soon pros pectors will have overrun every part of the famous Yukon, but the wild noun tain businesses of this uneXplored ter ritory have so far resisted the white mans entrance, and the great area stretching between attitudes 54 and 58 and extending from the Rocky noun tains on the east to 128 west longitude, remain terra incognita.
 That streams tributary to the Yukon, Peace river and the Liand, known to be rich in placer gold, and rivers flowing through Cariboo and Cassiar, noted for their gold beds many years ago, all take their rise on the outskirts of this vast lCiI1tOIy3 WOulNI ll1NllNeiiC AilC IJIGSCntC of mineral wealth in the unknown field.
 This supposition is supported by more than mere probability. Since 1885 In- dians and half breeds have vaguely talked of gold ''up in the interior" and taciturn Chinamen in ragged clothes have come down to the coast with bags containing large and small quantities of the precious metal. As the industri- ous celestial has been washing gold in old placer beds for years, earning pittance which the white man would not consider worth his labor, the ap- pearance of these uncommunieative mysterious fellows at Pacific ports ex- cited little interest until Klondil1e dis coveries aroused every one. Then pros pectors began to suspect the existence of new gold fields south of the Yukon, and last summer miners ventured along the margin of the unknown region.
 Two men who had been washing along streams of this outlying district brought out $4S,000 worth of the vel low dust. During the summer one pros pector found a nugget worth S70 and in October q large nugget worth $500 was sent from the northern part of the ter ritory. Within the past few weeks the discovery of extensive bodies of fine milling gold quartz was reported to the British Columbia minister of mines by pfospeetors who left last summer to explore the southern outskirts. Win ter had prevented more thorough eX- ploration, but the veins were said to be of extraordinary width and were cX- posed for miles across the country. Samples of quartz, rich in gold. accom- panied tie report; but so wild and in accessible is that region these deposits cannot be worked until the Teslin Lake Telegraph Creek railway or the Gas siar Central has been built.
 The unopened territory is yariously designated by the flames of it's differ- ent sections, as the Omineca, the Peace river, the Liard country. Roughly speaking, it is bounded on the east by the Rocky mountains, on the west by the Yukon and the Pacific slope and on the south by Cariboo. The nearest point on the Canadian Pacific is almost eco miles from it's northern limits, but the Omineca can be reached by way of the coast, going up the SRrena river and following q fairly clear trail for 150 miles.
 Discovery of gold in omineea caused n great rush northward from Cariboo and the coast in 1870; but without mod- ern hydraulic appliances the gravel was difficult to work When rich diggings were found in Cassiar, the crowds stam- peded to the newer field. During the eight years that followed, at least $1,- 100000 in gold was taken from the Omi- neca by miners satisfied with moderate returns. The general impression that the diggjngs on the southern outskirts were shallow discouraged exploration until last fall, and then. when the dis eoyeries were announced, the season had advanced too far for prospecting.
 For hundreds of miles north of Omi- neca is Q vast eXpanse absolutely un- known to the white man. 1t lies be- tween Peace river and the Yukon. < party under Lord Ayonmore is spending the winter in Lizard country, in order to be on hand for thorough exploration of that section or the terra incognita when the season opens. Between the Peace and Liard rivers the climate is not so rigorous and forbidding as in the Yukon. The country is densely wooded. There is a superabundanee of timber for fuel and for building purposes. Game, large and small, is plentiful.
 For naturalist, sportsman and pros pector, no part of the unexplored world offers more attractive prizes.-N. Y. Sun.
 Tire Elephants Neck
 The reason the elephant's neck is