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later great fakes were promoted at the Pande
Basin and elsewhere. But it was years after
that when two Indian boys, hunting on
Chicagof Island, lay down to drink at a
stream, and, behold, in the shimmering water
was white rock with yellow, glittering parti-
cles dancing in the clear stream. With the
fear it was but fools gold they took speci-
mens and marked the place where they were
found. When they reached Sitka they sub-
mitted these samples to Judge DEGroff, and
to Professor Kelly of the Sheldon Jackson
School. It was pronounced to be gold, pure
shining, yellow gold, and richer than the
most sanguine had hoped for. After much
labor and many disappointments the ledge
was located from which the float came, and
today that mine, the Chicagof it is called,
is known as the richest and best paying mine
in the United States in proportion to the
money invested, and more than one fortune
has been taken out of the tunnels in the
mountain.

Off the shores of the continent, reaching
far off to the westward almost to the shores
of Asia are vast fishing grounds, perhaps the
greatest in the world. A great submarine
plateau stretches along shore, past the Aleu-
tian Islands and into Bering Sea. There are
estimated to be forty thousand square miles

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