JAN MAYEN. 45 



its mimicipal council of three, five, or seven members. In 1802 the armed 

 forces consisted of three men, two day policemen and one night watch, at 

 Reykjavik. 



III.— JAN MAYEN. 



Although its northernmost peninsulas project into the arctic zone, Iceland 

 is not the last land of the North Atlantic. The plateau on which it rests is 

 continued north-eastwards towards the Norwegian waters, terminating with a 

 sort of headland, which rises above the surface to form the elongated island of 

 Jan Maj'en. Immediately beyond the Beerenberg, or "Bear Mount," rising to 

 a height of 6,372 feet at its north-east end, the water suddenly sinks to great 

 depths. At 2,000 feet from the shore Seoresby measured 305 fathoms, and Mohn 

 found the same depth at a distance of Is^ miles from the coast. 



Jan Mayen, which has an area of ICO square miles, was probably seen for 

 the first time by the English navigator, Henry Hudson, in 1607 ; but it received 

 its name from Jan Mayen, who rediscovered it four years afterwards. It 

 is often wrapped in dense fogs, and, in the language of the early navigators, it 

 is " then easier to hear the land than see it." But the reflection of volcanic 

 eruptions has at times been detected above the surrounding mists. The Esk, a 

 volcano south of the Beerenberg, was seen emitting flames in 1818. Beneath 

 the glaciers which partly cover its slopes geologists have recognised that the 

 island is of recent formation. Its lavas resemble the latest thrown up in Iceland, 

 notably those forming the peninsula of Heykjanes, and differ entirely from the 

 dolerites of the Faroer Isles. 



The island is uninhabited, but the surrounding waters are visited by seal 

 hunters, mostly from the east of Scotland and Christiania. Their vessels skirt 

 the floating masses along the west and north coasts, which drift thence to the 

 Greenland ice-fields. Here is mostly found the limit between the open and con- 

 fined waters. Jan Mayen is like the last outpost of the world at the entrance to 

 the frozen regions. 



ISLANDS OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC. 



Statistics and General Data. 



Faroer. — Area: 51 4square miles. Population (1880) : 11,221, or 22 to 1 square mile nearly. Whale 

 fishery between 1833 — 1862: total captures, 37,986 ; yield, £152,000 blubber exported to Copenhagen. 

 Average exports of fi&h, &c. : 3,100,000 lbs salt and smoked; 200,000 lbs. fresh; 1,141 tons blubber, 

 10,000 lbs. bladders ; 170 tons roe. Average value of exports, £37,000 ; of imports, £27,000. 



Iceland. —Area: 40,460 square miles. Population (1878) : 72,000, or 1 8 to 1 square mile. 



Temj)erature of the sea in July (Trminger and Dufferin) : — 



North-west coast ....... 45° to 49" Fahr. 



East coast 40° to 42" „ 



jMean annual temperature ..... 36° „ 



Extremes 30° to 40° „ 



