At one time a band of these fearless sea-robbers made their lairs in the Shetland and Orkney Islands and even plundered the coast of Norway, the abode of their kinsmen. Their conduct so exasperated Harold that he determined to destroy the freebooters of the Orkneys root and branch. Gathering a large fleet, he relentlessly pursued the raiders up every bay and inlet. Leaving the ships, he chased them among the rocky islands and the sinuous fiords. When they were overtaken the pursuers showed them no mercy. A few escaped, and, stealing away under the cover of darkness, the hunted sea-robbers fled in their ships to Iceland. All the while the tide of immigration was augmented by the migrations of disaffected nobles from Norway. This naked volcanic island had more attraction for them than their own country where freedom was denied them. Sixty years after the first settlement fifty thousand people had made their homes in Iceland. The inhabited parts were along the coast, in the river valleys, and in the vicinity of the fiords, rarely extending farther than fifty miles inland. In order to better maintain rights and settle disputes, in 930 the chiefs or nobles established an aristocratic republic and adopted a constitution. The republic existed four hundred years. Many just laws were enacted, some of which England was glad to borrow. The legislative meetings were held in Thingvalla, a picturesque valley thirty-five miles east of Reykjavik. This valley was formed by the sinking of a lava area of fifty square miles. In the middle of the valley, flanked by two huge jagged walls of lava, is a triangular floor of lava like a large flatiron having separating chasms meeting at the apex. Here the Althing, or general assembly, met annually to make laws and settle disputes. Toward the south the valley slopes gently to Thingvalla Vatn, a beautiful sheet of water of crystal clearness ten miles long and five miles wide, having in some places a depth of a thousand feet. The scenery here is one of rugged beauty and surpassing grandeur. Hard by, a river comes tumbling over its rocky bed, then calmly pours its icy water into the placid lake. No spot is better suited to inspire freedom of thought and lofty imagination than this primitive meeting-place of a legislative assembly. Eventually, Iceland became subject to Norway and afterward a colony of Denmark, which it remains to-day. Self-government and the re-establishment of the old Parliament at Reykjavik was granted by Denmark in 1874. Iceland is not only out of debt but has the snug sum of one million crowns in its exchequer. It is an ideal place for the woman's rights advocates, since women here have the right to vote and do not change their names when they marry. Although the island contains forty thousand square miles, five-sixths of it is uninhabitable. The present population is eight thousand.