The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1853-03-02

sessions Of the Ahing Every act passed by majority
prevail Of the king and il signed by him. does not be-
come law. The Ioelanders very naturally desire
free trade and wish a, TO have Their ports thrown
all opposed to this In the session OF 1851 the Kings
counclors-the six he appoints-prspared DILL and in
BILL however, provided that all except Danish vessels
should pay tonnage duty Of about rig dollar per
would amount to just about prohibition. The Iceland
members opposed the bill strongly and pa the
House The Governor was incensed to see the will of his
royal master thwarted and like governors in
old colonial times dissolved the Assembly and held it dis
solved for two In this way their la session broke
up in grand row. Though Iceland would not TO
be very promising country for BUCCANEERS yet it has
been pundereda several different times by pirates During
the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and up to as late
period 1916 in the reign of James of England pratt
cal cruisers fitted out in both English and French
ports and plumber rapine and murder desoated all the
John noted for his success and daring. He was
called Gentleman John being most likely like the Greek
cruiser described by Byron
title midest manner'd man
That scuttled ship or cut throat
With all true breeding of gentleman.
He finally caught takon to England and sent into an
exile that lasted him for long period The most terrible
event Of this kind in l727 when ship of Turkish
Agerne pirates landed the Wesanama Islands and the
south coast They murdered between forty and fifty of
the inhabitants, plundered the churches and private
houses Of all their yaluables provisions and clothing
and took four hundred prisoners men, women and
children and carried them in captivity to Agiers Nine
years after the King of Denma rk obtained them by ran
only thirteen got back to their native land In
1902 the plague which mad swept nearly the whole
of Europe devastated the country, carrying off, is
reported two thirds of the population. Soon after
Of uncommon severity destroyed vast numbers
OF cattle and the close of the century another pes
thence swept through the land. These calamities with
the expressions of the Danish government and the
sricons trade made the greater part of the fifteenth
and sixteenth centuries gloomy period in the history
OF Iceland. Printing init oduced in 1880 and the
Reformation that had been going in Europe for
time extended to Iceland in 1851 As an illustration Of
If tlaI alapdic CHI ina
may be mentioned that the last Roman Catholic Bishop
and his two Legitimate sons were beheaded for murder
and other crimes To the present time the religion has
been Lutheran and now there is said to be not one per
in the island except Proestants. The lceanders
live principally BY farming and fishing They take cod
and haddock with lines and hooks, from five to forty
miles out at Their fishing from the first of
February to the middle of May. In the summer they
catch trout and salmon in the streams and lakes. The
salmon fisheries held the property Of the
Trout from two to three pounds weight abound
in nearly all the lakes have known several hundreds
of these caught by in few hours in the lake of
Thingvalla In agriculture they have crop of any
value except grass Grain will not grow and their gardens
small and limited to small quantities of turnps
potatoes lettuce and some other vegetables. The
mon angelica there spontaneously and is used
salad The climate in winter is not as cold as in our
Northern States. the thermometer seldom showing a
greater severity than twelve degrees above In
cold nor h, Fires not needed and during the sum
months the climate is far more agreeable than that
of Great Britain the most parts of the United States
Thunder storms invariably in the winter and not
in the summer Their domestic animals sheep, cat
tie horses and dogs Hogs not kept and but few do
mestc fowls From the nests of the cider duck they
obtain large quantities of eggs, well as down. These
birds in the breeding nearly tame in their
haunts the islands and the seashore barnyard
fowls Reindeer run wild in the interior but are not
kept domestic animals Blue and white foxes
common, and these, with eagles, hawks and ravens
destroy many Of their sheep and lambs White bears
never seen except when they feat over from Greenland
on drift ice The domestic animals in Iceland are
Co 600 horses. and 1000 cattle All their animals
Of rather small size, as compared to those in more
southern countries Their horses are size larger than
sweet excellent quality They feed to their sheep and
look out for themselves They have what they call
forests lunches Of shrubbery from three to six
feet high. This is principally birch avd willow: The
beautiful heather common In Scotland grows all over
Iceland Their game birds the ptarmigan the curew,
the pover and the tern Nearly every variety of water
fowl common to Great Britain or America abound in
the bays islands and shores Of Iceland and in the great
est numbers The Icelanders export wooabout 900
pounds annually-wOoen stockings, and mittens from
two three hundred thousand pairs annually. Besides
these articles they sell dried and sailed Goldfish smoked
salmon fish and seal OIL whale biuober seal and fox
sulphur They import their prn :ipal luxuries-four,
rye and barley meal beans potatoes wine brandy rum,
ale and beer, tobacco coffee sugar tea, salt timber,
coal iron, cutlery, fish hooks and lines, cotton and silk
goods crockery and furniture. From thirty to forty
vessels sail from Denmark to iceland every year Reyk
jayk the capital the west coast is the largest town
place about 200 people but there other places
of some trade on the west on the north, and the
east coast but the south. / have but
little time left to speak of the and customs
the people. In old times are told that when the
xIed ion Of importance they used to have grand feast
At these dinners horse flesh Of their luxuries
room and after eatir and drinking to proper de-
gree of elevation would close their proceedings bythrow
ing the bones at one another the tables We
not informed however, that the modern celanders in
duge in these uxuries their trade gone and they
simple, pastoral people. Crime is nearly unknown.
There but prison in the island and that
did duty also aims house Even with this it
almost always without tenant and finally to put it to
some use, i made into Governors house. and is
now the 'sWhite House, in the capita of Iceland In
complexion the Icelanders resemble the Anglo Saxon
race often having ford and handsome countenances
They fine figures frequently tall several that have
being six feet in height In large district in
the tn west Of Iceland all the their boards,
They always pleased when stranger appears
them who has adopted fashion much in accordance
with their philosophy with nature, and the laws of
health and at the time that adds much to the
personal appearance of the lords OF creation All goods
taken to Iceland are duty free, and letters and
papers carried there 10 government vessels free of
postage, and sent through the island by government
gers. There is not post Office, custom house
police officer fort soldier a lawyer in the whole
country Dried fish, goods and valuable are left out of
doors uDguarded with impunity stealing being almost
unknown Taxes are very light and do not amount to
much the expense of carrying the government
paying the officers and transporting the mail The Ice
ianders universally educated to that extent that
all read and write. There is but one school, ins
tuition of learning in Iceland-the college at Reykjavik
this has about eight professors and tutors and usually
about eighty students Inc boys educated mere are nearly
all intended for the church, else to fill some of the
civil Offices in the island they expect to go abroad
or live in Denmark. This institution is endowed by the
Danish government, and formerly at Bessesstad,
few miles south from whence 1t removed few
since. Its President is Barni johnson, Esq, native
Icelander gentleman of rare accomplishments and
learning and of the first lnguists in Europe. The
Hebrew, Greek, Latin Danish, French and English Ian
guages taught here well most Of the sciences
It during college vacation when was in the country
and used to meet in the interior, at their fathers
houses young who students of the college, and
who could Guen,ly in Latin French, English
The Bible Testamest, and often many other
books found in nearyvvery house in Iceland. The
population being sparse, it is impractcable to have
schools that education confined to the family circle
During their long winter evenings while both males and
females engaged in domestic abors, like spinning
weaving, or knitting by turns will take a booksome
history, biography the Bibe-and read aloud. The
length of their night be seen when consider that
the sun in December is above the horizon oay from two
to three hours. While travelling in the country used
frequently TO ask the children in poor families to read TO
! Icniaadic nd tho Of