Show PARIA DOSE OF N 19 1 61 4 all 4 I 1 wf W r Is pro babli babi difficult fo the aver ge tourist health seeker or sportsman to realize that within our days reykjavik the capital f iceland can be reached from leith yet such is the case and perhaps it may he be more surprising to learn that during the summer months the climate is mild and equable although the extreme northern part of the country Is north ct ef the arctic circle says a writer in the dundee courier last year I 1 spent four months in this historical and romantic island the inhabitants of which still keep to their ancient customs in language I 1 dress and government the latter although nominally dan ish as the king of denamrk has the veto have since 1903 had their own minister who under the direction of a parliament which meets every two years looks after the affairs of the country the crown has not yet once exercised the right to dismiss or amend any of the bills passed by the since the bract cally home rule bill of 1903 was passed during my visit the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of jon ion sigurds eon bon the great patriot who established free trade with all nations in 1854 was held and the opportunity taken to open the ne nev university former students had to study at copenhagen or other recognized universities bu but now they can take their degree in law medicine or divinity at reykjavik the opening was very impressive and picturesque the whole town and countryside turning out in gala attire many coming from villages or lonely farms arms forty to fifty miles distant on their strong little ponies which are almost the only means of travel 1 ing as there are no railways in the country A few had I 1 atle carts decor att aad d with shrubs and artificial flowers after the ceremony which took place in the parliament house the sity proper Is in the parliament house but there are axe several classrooms in various parts of the town the may or made a short speech after which the band struck up the icelandic na lional anthem a very weird and dole tul ful tune k an up to date capital A procession was then formed headed by the band playing the dan ish national anthem followed by the foreign consuls who were all in uniforms the town and county coun cifors the decorated cars and little girls and boys the former all dressed in white carrying the national flag came in the rear the procession then proceeded to the cemetery where a massive laurel wreath was placed Sigurds sons s grave which Is marked by a handsome monument the capital itself Is modern and up to date while I 1 was there a dan sh theatrical company performed in the little theater and an excellent cinematograph entertainment was held every night where one might see everything avery thing from the coronation pro assion to the grand national one of the two large and comfort ible hotels boasts of excellent music in the ever evening both summer and w binter inter the or parliament consists t f forty members who represent the 70 inhabitants on the island of 11 reside in reykjavik it Is not generally known that ice and and nit n t britain Is the mother of parliaments larl laments in a representative parliament arli ament was constituted and its arst meeting was kas held at great sunken plane between two va rifts with Thing valla lake before t and the gigantic Broad shield moun ain sin looking down upon it which is thirty five miles distant from reykjavik has a weird and indescribable beauty and asci fascination nation of lt it own oan there are nany rifts and fissures in the lava cov ered plains which make it danger ins us tor for strangers to roam without a ulde many of these rifts in the ava rock are almost hidden by the undergrowth and an unwary step a ight prec petate one forty feet into ice fee cold water of an unknown depth quite close to the inn and the par conage Is a the largest rift in the cen or of tais Is the rock of laws which S almos an island where nearly 1000 1 rears ago law laws were made and judg juds i A r O 0 t ments passed further south a detached rock Is known as the blood stone where tor for certain offenses the batiks backs of criminals were broken and the bodies were thrown into the deep transparent water which rises from some subterranean source and runs from the rift underground toward the lake the ruins of the booths where the members of the thing or parliament and where at times long ago the heroes of the sagas dwelt are still visible iceland an anglers paradise the T Thing hing valla lake teems with trout and char aa as do almost all the lakes and rivers in iceland the rivers mostly belong to farmers who own their own land and who charge from 1 to 2 kroner 1 kroner is equal to about 25 cents a day per rod trout ot of from one to five pounds are plentiful and it Is a rare occasion in deed when one does not return with a full basket there are a number of salmon riv MV ers the best of which is the faxas near reykjavik which Is let to an englishman but excellent sport can be got in remoter districts at a mod erate charge in hii ibe e season excellent shooting can izan IM obtained no license is re quiren and the farmers generally give permission to shoot over their land ptarmigan snipe plover ducks and wild swan abound among the trips which can be tak en from reykjavik are and hekia hekla the latter about 5 feet above sea level which Is the highest volcanic mountain in iceland and aa as late as 1878 was in eruption and did 9 a great deal of damage to the sur rounding farms fortunately no lives were lost it commenced on septem her ber 2 and lasted over tour four months the ashes actually being carried aa as tar far a as s shetland excellent accomma accommodation dation can b be e had at the parsonage Fell Fells II 11 Is usual however to take several pack ponies as well as riding ponies to carry tents and other equipment to camp out it if the great geyser Is in eluded the trip will last at least a week there Is an inn near the geyser where a bed can be obtained and soap purchased strange to say the great geyser will sometimes not con descend to spout unless he receive from 20 to 60 pounds of soap and then he may remain sulky tor for a full week or even longer but on occasions he may spurt several times a day why the soap affects him Is unknown and likely will remain unknown for all time coming on the main country roads cara vans of pack ponies from five to twelve in number are frequently met with the ponies are tied head to tall that Is the leader will have a rope attached to his tall which is fastened to the bridle of the following pony and so on and sometimes cows and goats are included punctuality Is not a strong point with the icelanders a few hours here or there making no difference in keep ing appointments taking them all round however hoever they are a good na aured and extremely intelligent lot and certainly put the average british er to hame in their knowledge of 1 languages lingua nearly all speaking danish and english as well as their own the recognized guides tare are highly ed and cultured men who can be relied upon to pr provide ovide good ponies riding addles and pack saddles iceland has no trees with the ex caption of two or three small wood on the east coast the government has been endeavoring to c pines and firs near reykjavik but hitherto have met with but little sue suc cess in reykjavik there Is a large arid and handsome museum which from an antiquarian point of view ib iii of lm ila mense interest among its collection collections are many manuscripts belonging to the th old writers under the same sami roof Is a natural history collection embracing specimens of all the ani ant mals birds and fish in iceland there Is also a splendid library and a good reading room with some thousands of 0 books of reference in icelandic eng eno hah lish german and french |