Account of Harris. 143 



the northern valley, is marked by a ridge of very rugged moun- 

 tmns, running in the general direction of the range, and situated 

 nearer the western side. Along the west coast of this subdivi- 

 sion, there is some good pasture, but on the eastern side, the 

 only soil being peat, and even that existing only in patches 

 among the rocks, the vegetation is extremely coarse and scanty. 

 From one of the summits of the ridge mentioned, I have counted 

 upwards of eighty small lakes on its eastern side. The northern 

 subdivision consists of Ben Loskentir, which gradually lowers 

 to the eastward. The lakes in the low grounds on its eastern 

 part are also extremely numerous. The water of all these lakes 

 is brown. There are no harbours on the west coast of this 

 southern division of the mainland of Harris, and it is even very 

 difficult for boats to land on the beaches, owing to the high surf. 

 It possesses no sylvan vegetation, excepting a few bushes in ruts 

 and on islets in the lakes. The principal island is Taransay, 

 on the west coast, the greater part of which is rocky, although 

 it contains good pasture. This division has no general name 

 applied to it in the country, but its western part is called the 

 Machar, i. e. the sandy district, and its eastern, Na Baigh, the 

 Bays, or more correctly the Voes. 



The Mainland of Harris is separated from the large island of 

 North Uist, by a channel about 8 miles broad, denominated 

 the Sound of Harris, over which lie scattered a prodigious mul- 

 titude of islands and rocks, interspersed with reefs, shoals and 

 sand-banks. Of these islands only four are inhabited : Pabbay, 

 Berneray, Kelligray and Ensay. Pabbay, the most western, is 

 a high conical island, about 2 miles in diameter, rocky in its 

 northern and western parts, sandy on the eastern, and pretty 

 well covered with good soil on the southern, which is low. Ber- 

 neray lies to the south of Pabbay, at the distance of about 3 

 miles, and is situated close upon Uist, the intervening channel, 

 about a mile over being named the Kyle or Strait of Uist. It 

 is about 4 miles long, and from 2 to IJ broad. The western 

 coast is sandy, and along it, as well as on the east coast of Pab- 

 bay, the sand has committed friginful ravages. The rest of the 

 island is in general fertile, and the pasture grounds are covered 

 with a fine, short, green vegetation. To the east of Berneray 

 lies the small island of Kelligray, which is low, sandy and fer- 



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