194 
BARRA, IN THE OUTER HEBRIDES. 
[Nature and Art, December 1, 186G. 
some day travel, and to realize the number of British 
subjects resident in a strange British colony within 
Great Britain. These people, although actually 
within Britain, are practically more remote than are 
the Canadians ; and while at the present moment Ave 
can communicate with our kindred in North 
America and receive a reply within ten minutes, 
we cannot at all times communicate with our 
brethren in the Hebrides within six weeks. We 
entreat our reader’s patience, and we claim his 
attention. We wish to hold out a helping hand, 
to assist in raising these people from a slough of 
ignorance, dishonesty, superstition, and filth, as 
shameful, as degrading, and as unwarrantable and 
unjustifiable as any that ever shocked a philanthro- 
pist, or demanded the attention of the thoughtful 
and right-minded. 
Header, do not turn away, saying, “Fine 
words, Mr. Tourist — fine words ; but nothing in 
them.” If you have patience, we pledge you we 
will prove them all ; and, if you have a heart, we 
will enlist it in our cause before you close the book. 
But to commence our survey. 
The island of Lewis is about forty miles long, 
and has in its broadest part a breadth of about 
twenty-five miles. The population is about 19,000; 
and the proprietor, Sir James Matheson, is a model 
landlord, and a public-spirited gentleman. During 
the potato famine with which these islands were so 
severely scourged about twenty years ago, he was 
the only resident proprietor amongst a population 
of 37,800 souls. His presence was a tower of 
strength. It aided the Highland Belief Com- 
mittee in a proper and effectual distribution of 
their funds and stores. He has built a beautiful 
mansion at Stornoway, and has established a 
factory for distilling oil, &c., from peat, with which 
the islands abound. The inhabitants of Lewis 
are Protestants ; and although destitution, im- 
morality, and degradation abound there, as they do 
everywhere else in the Outer Hebrides, the people 
are better off in Lewis than in any of the other 
islands of the group, excepting, perhaps, North Uist. 
The comparative prosperity of Lewis, besides being 
in a great measure due to its proprietor’s judgment, 
is no doubt mainly attributable to the presence of 
the chief port of the group. The port of Stornoway 
is a thriving fishing-station, and a busy place. 
It is pleasantly situated at the front of a very 
pretty little wood, and at the head of a fine 
bay. 
The next island, Harris, which in the map 
appears to form a part of Lewis, has a length of 
•twenty-six miles and a breadth varying from eight 
to twenty-four, with a population of about 5,000 
souls. The religion is Protestant, and the pro- 
prietor is the Earl of Dunmore (or “ Harris,” as 
he' prefers being called). At the time of the potato 
famine Lord Harris was in his minority, and was 
absent ; but his excellent mother, Lady Dunmore, 
was present, and nobly represented the proprietor 
in the island. She, like Sir James Matheson, be- 
haved well ; and, by her exertions and motherly 
care, saved the lives of many crofters and cottars 
and their families. The island of Harris, although 
mountainous and rugged (one of the hills is 2,600 
feet high), contains some good pasturage ; but it i ; s 
not a place where grain can be raised to much 
profit. Tarbet, the chief place in Harris, is situated 
on the head of Loch Tarbet, and is one of the 
stations of the steam packets. 
The next island, North Uist (pronounced 
Whoeest), is about thirty miles long, with a breadth 
of from eight to fourteen miles. Lord Macdonald is 
proprietor. The population (Protestant) number 
about 4,500. In NorthUist the people are generally 
more thriving than in the other islands. The 
houses are better built, and some of them contain 
furniture. The people here at once strike the 
visitor as being more cleanly and intelligent than 
their neighbours. Loch Maddie, the chief town, is 
situate on a loch of that name, and is the station 
of the sailing mail-packet between North Uist and 
Dunvegan, in Skye. A “maddie” means a dog; 
and at the entrance of the loch are three remark- 
able rocks (well worth the study of the geologist) 
known as the Maddies, or Dogs : hence the name 
of the place. 
Benbecula (with its romantic name) is the next 
island, and is about nine miles long and nine miles 
broad. The population is 2,000, mostly Protestants, 
as far as we could learn ; but some of them, are 
Catholics. The proprietor is Colonel Gordon, of 
Cluny Castle, Aberdeen. The island is flat, and 
the soil is sandy and not productive ; but potatoes 
and cabbages are sometimes raised in abundance. It 
is separated from North and SouthUist by “sounds,” 
or, more properly speaking, “ fords.” These fords 
claim a passing notice, since they regulate the 
business of the inhabitants and supply them with 
much food. Business matters and meetings are 
here settled according to the time of the fords. 
When the tide is out they are practicable, and 
present a very remarkable appearance to the 
stranger. The sand covering the bottom is a pure 
white silver-sand, whilst the land around is chiefly 
black bog and brown rocks. The contrast is most 
marked. It is not safe to cross the fords in a 
chaise or cart, without a guide ; the sands, though 
generally firm and hard at low water, are in some 
places quick and very treacherous. They are 
sprinkled with innumerable rocks, which look like 
various-sized haycocks and stacks, placed in all 
sorts of puzzling positions. It is amongst these 
rocks (some of which have beacons and crosses on 
them to serve as land-marks) that the guide con- 
ducts the traveller. The fords abound in shell-fish, 
which give food to the inhabitants, who in this 
place will eat them ; whilst in Barra, a little 
further south, they will not. When the water is 
up, the fords are impassable. No boatmen will 
venture into a sea so thickly studded with dangers 
amongst which the tides rush, and whirl, and eddy 
with fearful violence. 
The next island, South Uist, is about twenty-six 
miles long, with a breadth of about seven miles, 
and a population of 5,000. Colonel Gordon is pro- 
prietor, and the population are nearly all Catholics. 
