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soap, &c. The better class purchase linens and cotton goods, which have latterly come more in use. Those who live near the coasts bring dried cod and stock fish, dried salmon, whale, shark and seal oils, seal skins, &c. The domestic exports have been inconsiderable of late.

The Icelanders are chiefly of Norwegian origin, and have a frank, open countenance, florid complexion and flaxen hair. They have retained, with few innovations, the ancient modes of life and the costume of the Scandinavian race. Their dwellings are filthy, and like those of the Irish, repulsive to strangers. The people have retained, in all its purity, their ancient language, and are very attentive to their religious and moral duties. Domestic education is universal, and there are few who cannot read and write. Many of the peasants are well versed in the classics, and the Latin language is frequently used as a medium of communication with foreigners. They are very fond of their sagas or ancient traditional tales, which are read aloud in their families during the long winter evenings.

The affairs of the island are presided over by a governor, with the title of Sliftamtman, who is sometimes a native, but more frequently a Dane. Under him are amtmen, or provincial governors, and each province, of which there are three, is divided into syssels or shires, presided over by sysselmen or sheriffs: these collect taxes, hold petty courts, regulate assessments, &c. The tatsroed or chief justice, holds, with two assistants, a criminal court at Reikiavik, but capital offences are sent to Copenhagen for trial. Crimes, however, are rare petty theft and drunkenness are the most

common.

The island constitutes a bishopric. There are 194 parishes, but the clergy amount to about 300, and are very poor. There are four charity hospitals, but no work-houses. The principal school is at Bessestadt, and has three masters, who teach the classics, theology, and the Danish language: the youth finish their studies at Copenhagen. Domestic education is much attended to, and is productive of much good.

Reikiavik, the capital, on the south-west coast, has little more than 500 resident inhabitants, chiefly Danes. Most of the villages are situated on the coasts, at convenient spots, for the receipt and transport of merchandise. Iceland was discovered by a Norwegian pirate, in 860, but the earliest permanent settlement was effected in 874. In little more than half a century, all the coasts were occupied by settlers; and about 928, the inhabitants formed themselves into a republic, and established the Althing, or General Assembly of the Nation, which was held annually at Thingvalla, in the south-west, and not abolished until 1800. The Icelanders maintained their independence for nearly 400 years, but during the 13th century became subject to Norway; and on the annexation of that kingdom to Denmark, Iceland was transferred along with it, and has since remained a colonial dependence of that nation.

SPITZBERGEN, or pointed mountains, (formerly known as East Greenland,) is the most northerly land hitherto discovered, and lies between the 76th and 81st degrees of north latitude, and the 9th and 3rd of east longitude, or about midway between Nova Zembla and Greenland. The group consists of four principal islands, viz.: Spitzbergen Proper, North-east Land, South-east Land and Charles' Foreland, the last on the west of the others. Besides these, there are some others of considerable extent, as the Ryke Yse Island and the Ice Islands on the east, which were discovered in 1645; the Hope or Sea Horse Island; and the Bear or Cherry Island, on the south, discovered by Barentz, in 1596. The Thousand Islands, an archi

pelago of some magnitude, lie south of South-east Land. Innumerable smaller inlets and rocks surround the whole coast, which is indented with capacious bays and fiords, in some parts almost dividing the country. Little, however, is known of the topography of these northern regions, nor has their extent been at all accurately ascertained, but it is stated that the actual superfices, though occupying a larger space, is smaller than that of Iceland. These islands rise in many places into mountains, of from 1000 to 3700 feet in height, the peaks of which are covered with snow, coeval, perhaps, with their creation. The coasts are iron-bound, presenting only a few tolerable harbors: the best of these is Smeerenberg, on the west coast, where the Dutch had once a considerable establishment. The surface, for the most part, is destitute of any vegetable or animal products, but there are a few bears and foxes, which live upon fish, &c. Spitzbergen was formerly a principal station for the whale fisheries, but the whales have been for some time past very scarce in the surrounding seas, and it is now but seldom visited. These lands were originally discovered by Sir Hugh Willoughby, in 1533; were first visited by the Dutch, in 1595, and surveyed by Captain Phipps, in 1773. The sovereignty of Denmark over Spitzbergen, is of course only nominal. It is also claimed by the Autocrat of Russia. There is no stationary population.

JAN MAYEN'S LAND, in latitude 71° and longitude 70 west, is a small island, also nominally under the crown of Denmark. It is similar in character to the other arctic islands, and of no possible use, except as a harbor for whale ships. It is generally about 7,000 feet above the ocean. Beerenberg, a lofty hill, in the northern part of the island, is seen at the distance of 30 leagues from land. It was discovered in 1611.

Several other mountainous and sterile islands, in the Arctic Seas, belong also nominally to Denmark. They are productive of nothing but a few precious stones, minerals and volcanic matters, and are wholly useless to commerce. Whales and other valuable oil-producing animals frequent their inhospitable shores, which afford good harbors.

FRENCH POSSESSIONS IN NORTH AMERICA.

The only colonies held by the French in North America are the Islands of St. Pierre, Grand and Petit Miquelon, which lie on the south of Newfoundland. Formerly, however, this nation owned nearly one-half of the whole continent; but all, except these small, and almost unheard-of islands, has been wrested from it, either by conquest, cession, or purchase. Newfoundland passed from French authority in 1713; Cape Breton and Prince Edward's Island, in 1745; Canada and Nova Scotia, in 1763; and in 1803, the extensive territory of Louisiana. This latter was purchased by the United States, and now forms the flourishing states of Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri and Iowa, and is inhabited by a large, industrious and thriving population.

These islands, which were ceded to France in 1763, are used only as fishing stations for French vessels; they have otherwise no importance, commercial or military. In 1847 the governments of the French and the

United States entered into a treaty of reciprocity in regard to these dependencies. They are under the charge of a governor, who resides at the town of St. Pierre, on the island of the same name. The population is only temporary.

RUSSIAN POSSESSIONS IN NORTH AMERICA.

This territory comprehends the north-western portion of the continent of North America, extending from Behring's Straits eastward to the meridian of Mount St. Elias, along both the Arctic and Pacific Oceans; and from that mountain southward, along the coast chain of hills, till it touches the coast about 54° 40′ north latitude, forming an area of about 394,000 square miles.

The Aleutian Islands, stretching from the Peninsula of Kamskatka, in Asia, to Cape Alaska, in North America, though comprised in the government of Irkutsk, may be considered as belonging to this region. These are very numerous, occupying a circular arc, extending from 165° to 195° east longitude. Apparently, this insular chain consists of the summits of a range of submarine mountains. They are of volcanic origin, and at the present day are subject to eruptions. Earthquakes are common and frequently violent. Behring's Island, Attoo and Oonalashka are the largest; the first being 104 miles in length; but many are only inconsiderable rocks, intersected by channels, varying in width and safety, and generally exhibit a barren aspect; high conical mountains, covered with snow, being their most prominent features. Vegetation is scanty; there are no trees or plants surpassing the dimensions of low shrubs and brushes, but abundance of fine grass is observed in the more sheltered vallies, and different roots, indigenous or transplanted, are there found. Oonimack, one of the islands, contains enormous volcanos, one of which, Chichaldinsk, is about 8,083 feet above the level of the sea. The seas abound in fish; and wild birds are plentiful. The hunting the sea-otter, the skin of which affords a fur of the finest quality, was formerly carried on to a great extent, but an indiscriminate destruction has greatly reduced the number, and comparatively few are now taken. The seal is also a valuable animal, affording the inhabitants a constant supply of food and clothing: the thin membrane of the entrails is also used in the place of glass. Foxes are the principal quadrupeds. The natives, a grade between the North American Indian and Mongol Tartar, are of middle size and of a dark brown complexion; their features are strongly marked, and have an agreeable and benevolent expression. Their hair is strong and wiry; beard scanty and their eyes black. They are not devoid of ingenuity: they are, however, indolent but peaceable, and extremely charitable, and at the same time stubborn and revengeful. Tattooing is practised among them; but the young ladies finding the Russians do not approve of these disfigurations, are gradually abolishing the custom. The laws of matrimony are very loose: a man may have as many wives as he can maintain, and a woman may have two husbands; it is not an uncommon affair, indeed, for men to exchange their wives with each other. The principal subsistence of the Aleutians is derived from fishing and hunting their habitations are spacious excavations in the earth, roofed over with turf, and sometimes as many as 100 to 150 persons occupy an apartment. Only a few of these islands are inhabited, and it is stated that the population has

decreased since the Russians possessed the country: at the present time it is variously estimated at from a few hundreds to 6,000. The islands were partially discovered by Behring, in 1741, and were afterwards visited by a number of explorers. There is, however, as yet, but little known concerning them further than their existence.

The possessions of Russia, on the continent, are chiefly mountainous, and along the coasts several culminations attain great elevation, and are perpetually covered with snow. Mount St. Elias is the most lofty, being elevated 17,900 feet above the ocean. Little or nothing is known of the interior. The line of the coast is very irregular, being indented by large bays, formed by bold promontories and peninsulas: the Peninsula of Alaska forms the south-west point of the country from which the Aleutian Islands begin. There are several extensive islands along this coast, which are included in the Russian territory: the principal of which, commencing at the north, are-Kodiak, Sitka, Admiralty, Prince of Wales', and Queen Charlotte or Washington Island.

The climate of Russian America is very severe, though by no means so extreme as experienced in similar latitudes of the eastern continents. The mean temperature of the winter months is about 34° Fahr.: in January and February, the thermometer ranges below-230, but in August, the hottest month, it has a mean of 570, and frequently rises to 70°. The country is subject to sudden changes, and frequent falls of rain in summer and snow in winter.

The Russian American Company* had formerly possession of the whole territories. The settlements originated with an association of merchants formed at Irkutsk, who obtained from the Emperor Paul exclusive privilege of trading for peltry in the Aleutian Islands and adjacent coasts. This privilege was extended by the Emperor Alexander over all Russian America. The capital and principal factory was first established at Kodiak; but the increasing scarcity of sea-otters in the Aleutian Islands, and the necessity of pursuing them further south, led the then governor to lay the foundation of New-Archangel, which has now become the chief depôt. The Russian dominion, however, over the vast solitudes of this region, is merely nominal: some of the tribes, who live along the coast, sell and barter furs with the Russians, and acknowledge the sovereignty of the empire; but most of them, as well as those in the interior, are quite independent. The interior, indeed, is, in the main, quite unknown to the Russians, who possess merely small establishments on the coast and some posts surrounded with ditches and palisades, which are dignified with the title of forts. In 1824, a treaty between Russia and the United States of America was ratified, defining the boundary of the former, and limiting the Russian settlers to the country north of 54° 40'; and in 1825, another between Great Britain and Russia, still further limiting the Russian settlements. By this treaty, the extreme east line was fixed at the meridian of Mount St. Elias, northward to the Arctic Sea, (about 141° west longitude,) and southward along the range of coast hills to 54° 40', or about the entrance to Observatory Inlet. The British have since obtained a twenty years' lease of the continental portion of these territories, and the exclusive privilege of supplying the Russians with agricultural produce and provisions. The Russians, at the present day, only occupy the islands off the coast. New-Archangel, the capital, is situated on the coast of the Island of Sitka, in 57° 30′ north latitude and 135° 13' west longitude. It is a town of about 1,000 inhabitants, and contains the boards and warehouses of the company. The habitations

* Charter renewed 1849.

are of wood and well built. The whole country is under the surveillance of a governor,' who derives his authority from the company at Irkutsk he resides in the capital, and controls all the actions of the colonial serfs and employées. The total population of Russian America is estimated at 60 or 70,000, including the aborigines.

The commerce of this country is chiefly confined to the exportation of furs to Canton, and the import of provisions and agricultural supplies from the British possessions. It is of little value, being less than $300,000 a year, and is constantly declining, consequent on the extinction of the seal and otter.

Russia also claims Spitzbergen; but by general assent, those desolate regions are considered as forming a part of the Danish Possessions.

BRITISH POSSESSIONS IN NORTH AMERICA.

These enormous, but scattered and ill-defined territories, sufficient of themselves to form several empires of vast dimensions, are, with small exceptions, situated in the more northern portions of America, and are naturally comprehended under the two heads of Continental and Insular. The first comprises New-Britain, the United Canadas, New-Brunswick and Nova Scotia, (which includes Cape Breton,) all lying contiguous to the northern United States ;) and the territory of Honduras in Central America; and the second, the islands of Newfoundland and Prince Edward on the confines of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and the Bermudez' or Somers' Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean. Each of these has a separate local executive and legislature, and forms a distinct colonial dependence. The extent, population, &c., of these several political divisions are exhibited in the annexed table:

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The immense regions comprehended under this title, extend from the Russian Possessions and Pacific Ocean on the west, to Baffin's Bay and Davis' Straits on the east, and from the northern line of Canada and the 49th parallel far into the polar regions, terminating in that direction

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