The New York herald., 1874-08-07

bad nlanted themselves back again whence they
had been driven by Pompey the Great on the bor-
ders OF the Black Sea.
The unready Ethelred had them always buzzing
about him, and
THEY WERE EVER CRUISING ABOUT
in the seas which WASH the shores OIL England,
Scotland Ireland, the He 0rides, the Orkneys, the
shetlands, and finally the Farce Islands, rom
which stil In search OF plunder, 1t was an easy
matter to pull away to the westward for couple
of days in search OF further adventures, and dis
covered what we now call Iceland. They
found however, nothing there but some
books and bells and crOZiers which had been left
there by a band OF Irish monks, who had gone
there no doubt to do penance, and VINO at once
when they saw the Mortimer, took themselves or
as fast as possible. either to America as some
people suppose, or home again to Ireland. as is
quite as likely, upon discovering themselves still
within reach OF the merciless pirates, who re-
spec ed no more Christian priest than q French
king
Exactly who was the first of the Morse pirates
to discover Iceland historians are not agreed, nor
does 1t much matter whether they ever do or not
any more than 1t matters whether Wellington said
"Up, guards, and at them" or whether Columbus
was the first, last and only disc0verer OF America
1t Is enough for those who not historians to
member that the English won Waterloo and that
Spanish enterprise opened o New World, and IN
like manner 1t is sufficient for US to know, as
q mere curiosity OF history, that sometime
in the ninth century the Northmen got to Iceland;
that in s83 they got to Greenland and that In 1901
they gathered grapes on the mainland OF what has
by a singular freak OF fortune come to be called
America. These old sea rovers called 1t Vineland,
because they found grapes and made wine and
grew merry there; and but for the savages they
fnv,uA ,pouvp nxvh< how
it Skraellingsholm.
ICELAND THOUSAND YEARS AGO.
II, however. there may be doubt as to who was
the first Northman who discovered Iceland. there
can be no doubt that one Gardar landed there in
A. d.. $50. He sailed all the way around it. and
having gone home and told wonderful stories about
1t, the island came to be known as Gardarsholm,
Just as by the stories told by one Ameri-
Gus vespucius of land he had seen,
which caused the people to talk Of him
more even than OF Columbus, who was
not q story teller at all, ana from talking about
this wonderful land Of Americus they got lr finally
converted into America. After Gardar came
Floki who named 1t Snowland, and then the hood
Of unhappy, homeless, houseess Norwegians, who,
neeing from the wrath OF their triumphant king.
came to seek on this volcanic island of the Arctic
Sea peaceful home. Is 1t surprising that they
should at once have founded Republic It'was q
most natural result Of the steady, hard fight they
mad made for their independence We cannot too
much admire the spirit by which they were ami
mated. They were equals in misfortune, how
much soever they may before have differed in
rank. They formed q community at and In the
neighborhood OF the present capital, Reykjavlk,
and at once proceeded to form for themselves
a system of government. This was in S74: on the
"a day of August according to some accounts;
on the 9th, according to others just one thousand
years ago. 1t is this event which is to De cele-
brated in the presence as they say of the King Of
Denmark and the people who may gather there,
not alone from the various districts OF the island,
but from Europe and America.
FREE INSTITUTIONS AMONG THE ICEBERGs.
Although Iceland has long ago ceased to be an
actual Republic she has preserved the forms of
publican government as in the beginning. For
upwards of three centuries she preserved these
forms inviolate. There was an annual meeting Of
the people; the popular selection OF representa-
tive council, or Althing; the selection from their
number OF q chief ruler, or rather ADVISER Of the
law, called Lagmann, or law man, as we might
say, and the enactment Of such DEGREES as might
seem needful for the time. The session OF the
Althing lasted about one week, and took place on
the great lava plain Of Thingvalla In course
or time, mainly owing to the negligence OF
event certain to happen republics of long stand
ing-the King Of Norway In the thirteenth CEN
tury, assumed q certain control OF Iceland ad-
mnistration. Soon aiterward Iceland became
province Of Norway. and when the crowns of Nor.
way and Denmark became at length united by the
marriage of the representative branches OF the
two rival houses, and Norway became to Denmark
what Scotland subsequently became to England.
Iceland became Danish province; ana although
Norway has since, through war, become merged
with Sweden, the island remains still part Of
Denmark. and in some measure, governed by laws
general and local, subject to the Danish crown.
The island has been and still is possession Of
no inconsiderable value It's trade Is quite lively
in summer The waters which surround it abound
in codfsn, the lakes and rivers IN salmon, which
are caught and cured. Enormous quantities Of
wool are exported amounting some years to o
million and half OF pounds. The elder down OF
commerce principally comes from there and,
latterly large quantities Of sulphur have been ex-
ported and at the capital many trades and indus
tries have been introduced which are likely to
prove profitable to the people.
An Island Cut mp by Inlets-A Nest OF
Volcanoes and q Populat ation OF Royal
Descent-Learning and Talent I'm q
Desert Waste-The Gross Vanquishes
the Hammer OF ThOr-The King and
His One Policeman and tho Self.sacri-
ficing Pntriot-A People Attached to
Fatherland.
ABERDEEN, Scotland, July %, 1874.
The island OF Iceland lies between latitude 63
deg 20 min. and SO deg. 80 min. north, and no
part OF 1t s therefore, than two miles beyond
the Arctic circle West Of Greenwich ir stretches
from longitude 10 deg. 3s min. to "a deg 40 min.
or, TO simply convert degrees and minutes into
English statute miles, 1t is from its extreme east
to its extreme west point, 800 miles long, while
from north to south 1t is 1873 miles broad 1t is,
however, the most irregular OF all islands Its
deep, narrow lnlets, or nords, cut 1t up into Sc
ries of peninsulas, and, notwithstanding that its
length and breadth are greater than Ireland, its
actual area scarcely exceeds 10000 square miles.
At one point tits only four miles and half wide.
Physically considered, 1t is one OF the most re-
L. lalus Ia