44 



ISLANDS OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC. 



Minnesota, and tlie Great Salt Lake, and an Icelandic journal appears in Keewatin, 

 on the Red Eiver of the north. 



There is no town in the island beyond Reykjavik, the capital, with a 

 present population of some 3,000. Mention may also he made of Dingvellir, 

 where was held the assembly which prepared the constitution of 1874-, and of 

 Isafjor^r, on the north-west coast, which, though well built and cleanly, is not 

 a pleasant resort for the stranger, being one of the centres of the cod-liver oil 

 industry. Akreyri, capital of the northern districts, on the east side of the 

 Eyja-Fjcir^r, has a better harbour than Reykjavik. 



The already mentioned constitution of 1874 secures to the people an almost 

 complete autonomy. They no longer take any part in the Danish legislature, 



71° 



Fig. 18.— Jan Maven. 

 Scale 1 : 610,000. 



lU^WofR. 



55<?£>/^^ 



9" 



8°WorGr. 



10" 



71» 



12 Miles. 



though they are represented in the Cabinet by a special and responsible minister, 

 who administers the executive by means of a resident governor. The AlJ^ing, 

 or National Parliament, consists of two chambers of twelve and twenty-four 

 members respectively. Those of the Upper House are named, six by the King, 

 and six by the Lower House, while those of the latter are all chosen by the 

 electoral body, consisting of adults from twenty-five years of age paying at least 

 19s. in taxes, exercising some public function, or university graduates. Repre- 

 sentatives are not eligible before their thirtieth year. 



The island comprises two administrative provinces, each subdivided into 

 twenty-one sijshir, or " seats," and 169 hreppar, or communes. Each hrepp has 



