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CHAPTER IX.
ST A T IST IC S .
Tenures of Land—Law o f Descent— Rents, how paid—Payment
o f Labour— Marriages, proportion of—A g e s of Parties—Extent
o f the Island— Population— Deaths— Births, Legitimate and
Illegitimate—Labour, how employed— Charitable Institutions
— Diseases—Number o f Cattle — T axe s— Articles of Diet—
Indigenous Plants — Those useful for ordinary and other
domestic Purposes—Medicines — Ardent Spirits— Crimes and
Punishments—Education— Clergy— Morality.
T h e shortness of my stay in Iceland, my absence
from Reikiavik during the greater part of the time
I remained in the country, and the difficulty of
meeting with persons on whose information reliance
could be placed, where arithmetical numbers are
principally concerned, and where statistical information
is not regularly registered, are the chief
causes that have prevented me from obtaining
more detailed answers to the queries which were
sent to me, on my departure from England, by one
of the members of the Statistical Society, than those
Avhich I have been enabled to procure. They are,
however, I have every reason to believe, generally
correct, as far as they go, having been collected for
me by a gentleman of high respectability and
sound judgment, a Danish merchant, who has
been resident on the island for a great number of
years, and who has ready access to all the authorities
at Reikiavik. Many of the answers that are deficient
I have endeavoured to extend, from information
obtained from other sources, on which I think
dependence may be placed. These observations I
shall insert after the answers to the respective
questions, arranged in the order I received them.
No.
1. Q. What are the tenures of estates ?
A . Generally for life, on paying about 5 per cent,
of the value of the estate, besides an annual payment
for the cattle belonging to the estate, which in general
are few in number, for the tenant commonly
is the owner of the greater part of the live stock.
Obs.—This requires some explanation. Estates
are held of the Crown, or in fee-simple; but
there is no such thing as entailed estates,
they being generally sold at the death of the
proprietor, and the produce divided among
the children; unless some one of them can
purchase the estate, by paying each his share
of the property. The Crown lands and many
others are let to farmers on what may almost
be called perpetual leases. The rent of a
farm is paid in two parts—the land-rent.
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