The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

72 SCANDINAVIA.fishing populations of the seaboard. It comprised, in 1877, 2,830 men, under1 admiral, 9 commanders, 22 captains, and 102 lieutenants.The Danish colonial possessions are very extensive, though the two largestterritories, Iceland and Greenland, are mostly uninhabitable. The vast ice-fieldsof Greenland have with difficulty been penetrated for short distances at a fewpoints, and its extension towards the pole is still a problem awaiting solution.Next to Iceland, the most important possessions are the three "West Indian islandsof Santa Cruz, St. Thomas, and St. John, at the north-east junction of theCaribbean Sea with the Atlantic. The harbour of St. Thomas is one of the chiefnaval stations and ports of call in these waters.The financial condition of Denmark contrasts favourably with that of largerstates. The expenditure, averaging about £2,600,000, is usually covered by therevenue, and ifthe national debt has recently been considerably increased, this ismainly due to the construction of railways. She has wisely ceased to make uselesschronic preparations for a life-and-death struggle with her formidable southernneighbour, and most of the fortresses have been either dismantled, or, like thoseof Rosenborg and Frederiksborg, converted into museums and royal retreats.The country is divided administratively into eighteen amter, or bailiwicks, andone hundred and thirty-six herreder, or circles.** For Statistical Tables Bee Appendix.