406 



TEXAS. 



19. Religion. The religion is strictly Lutheran, and the parishes are in number 184. The 

 clergy, who are all natives of the island, are but pai lly mamtamed Vjy tithes ; they cultivate the 

 glebe attached to the churches, and many of them are obliged to follow the occupation of fish- 

 ermen. The richest living in the island does not produce 200 rix dollars, and there are parish- 

 es in wliich the stipend is as low as 5. But the clergy are faithful if not for hire. Every one 

 keeps what is called a " register of souls," or a statement of the conduct, abilities, and pro- 

 ficiency of each individual in the parish. The family books are also entered in this register, 

 which is given to the Dean at his annual visitation. Every clergyman is bound to visit every 

 family in liis parish at least twice a year, when he catechizes every inmate, old and young. 



20. Government and Laws. Iceland is a colony of Denmark ; the Governor is appointed 

 by the King, and holds his office 5 years. The laws are of the mild character that befits a 

 country where crimes are almost unknown. Fines, imprisonment, and whipping are the only 

 penalties inflicted in Iceland. Criminals that are capitally convicted are sent to Copenhagen 

 to be beheaded, as, for many years, no person has been found on the island to execute the sen- 

 tence of the law. 



21. Hislorij. Iceland was settled by the Norwegians in tlie 9th century, and for many years 

 constituted an independent republic. In 1264, it came under the dominion of the King of 

 Norway, and was subsequently transferred with that country to the crown of Denmark, under 

 which it remains at present. 



CHAPTER LIII. REPUBLIC OF -TEXAS. - 



1. Boundaries. Area. The boundaries are unsettled on the side of Mexico; on the east 

 and north they are the Gulf of Mexico and the frontiers of the United States, as already de- 

 scribed. The old province of Texas or Tejas was bounded on the west by the Nueces, anrt 

 a line drawn from its head to the sources of Red River, that river forming the northern bounda 

 ry. Within these limits its area is about 160,000 square miles. The republic, however, ex- 

 tends its claims to the Rio del Norte on the west, and to the Arkansas on the north, compris- 

 ing a tract of 140,000 square miles. The name of the province was derived from one of the 

 native tribes. 



2. Face of the Cotmtry, &;c. The surface along the shore, and to the distance of from 50 

 to 100 miles inland, is low and level, with occasional swamps and marshes, but generally com- 

 posed of arable prairie, traversed by lines of wooded river-bottoms. Above this maritime 

 plain, the country is undulating, nowhere attaining a considerable elevation, but agreeably di- 

 versified by gracefully rounded swells, gentle slopes, and broad plains. This region is mostly 

 prairie, the trees being chiefly confined to the river-valleys. On the west, several outliers of 

 the Mexican Cordilleras extend across the Colorado to the Brazos, where they subside into 

 the elevated plains of northern Texas. 



3. Climate. The climate of Texas is mild, agreeable, and heallhful ; the heats of summer 

 are moderated by the sea-breezes, but are sometimes excessive during a few hours before sun- 

 set, when the breezes commonly die away. Scarcely any rain falls between March and No- 

 vember, and the vegetation often sufliers from droughts. In November north winds set in, and 

 heavy rains begin to fall ; these winds blow during December and .January, when the moun- 

 tains are covered with snow, and the cold is sometimes severe ; but snow seldom lies king in 

 the lower districts. In the early spring the rains are very copious. 



4. Vegetable Productions. The live oak is found of large size in the maritime region, 

 chiefly between the Galveston and Matagorda Bays ; the white, red, post, and Spanish oaks, 

 the cotton-wood, ash, elm, and sycamore or buttonwood, the black walnut, hickory, pekan, the 

 locust, muskit, and bow-wood, the wild cherry, mulberry, chinquapin, persimmon, &c., are 

 among the natives of the forests, and there are extensive cane-brakes between the Colorado 

 and the Brazos. The soil and climate are favorable to the growth of the sugar-cane, indigo, 

 tobacco, cotton, rice, Indian corn, sweet potatoes, and in some parts of wheat, rye, oats, &c. ; 

 and the prairies afford excellent natural pastures all the year round. The cotton crop is 

 nearly 100,000 bales. 



5. Rivers. Bays. Texas has a gulf-coast of about 300 miles, exclusive of the windings, 

 but contains no good ship-harbor, and even few ports for smaller vessels. The shallow bays 

 which receive most of the rivers, and the mouths of those rivers which enter the gulf, are 

 barred by shifting sand-banl:s, the channels through which are often intricate, and never have 



