246 = =Mr. Macgillivray’s Account of the Outer H. ebrides. 
irruption of a mighty flood that has retained its new level. Be- 
ond these, and separated from them by a channel, varying in 
breadth from 15 to 40 miles, are extended the Outer Hebrides, 
forming a range of islands consisting of five principal masses, and a 
multitude of islets of all forms and dimensions, from conical to flat, 
and from the diameter of three or four miles to that of a few yards. 
The direction of this range is from north-east to south-west. It is 
bounded on the east by the Minch, on the west by the Atlantic 
Ocean. The principal islands are the following: Lewis and Har- 
ris, which form the northernmost island, North Uist, Benbecula, 
South Uist, and Barray. Each of these islands has in its train a 
multitude of satellites, which, however, occur principally in the 
channels by which they are separated. These channels are the 
Sound of Harris, which separates the district of that name from 
North Uist, the North Ford, between the latter island and Benbe- 
culn, the South Ford, between Benbecula and South Uist, and the 
Sound of Barray, between South Uist and the island of that name. 
At low water there are in fact only two channels, and consequently 
only three islands ; for the sands between Benbecula and the two 
Uists are then dry, and a passage is obtained on foot from North 
Uist to South Uist. The Sounds of Barray and Harris, however, 
are never left dry, although there is not in general great depth of 
water in them. Perhaps from this circumstance, together with the 
rectilinear direction of the range, these islands collectively have re- 
ceived the denomination of the Long Island. . 
Having in view to speak particularly of the extent of each of the . 
principal islands, in a subsequent part of the series of papers in- 
tended to be,submitted to the public on this subject, I shal! at pre-. 
sent confine myself to some general observations, tending to afford 
an introductory view of the whole range. A great portion of these 
islands is mountainous. In Lewis there are four principal groups, 
of which one is a ramification of the Harris mountains. Harris is 
entirely mountainous, and consists of two ranges, one running across 
the general direction of the islands, the other parallel to it, and 
forming the southern portion of that district. In North Uist there 
are two ranges of inferior elevation. Benbecula has a large but low 
hill in its central part. South Uist, in a great part, consists of an 
elongated group ; and Barray, like Harris, is entirely mountain- - 
-ous. Some of these mountains are of great elevation. Hecla, or 
more properly Eachcla, in South Uist, and Clisheim in Harris, 
which are the loftiest, appear to be considerably upwards of 3000 
feet, and many of the Park and Uig mountains in Lewis, and.espe- 
cially those of the Forest of Harris, are little inferior. These moun-_ 
tains possess the commen characteristics of extreme ruggedness and 
sterility. There could hardly be a more perfect picture of desola- 
tion than that which the Harris and Lewis hills present from the 
Minch. The total absence of wood, however, and the uniformly 
bare and dreary aspect which these mountains exhibit, deprive 
them of the picturesque features which one might expect to find 
