LONG ISLAND (ante), an island belonging to the state of New York, embracing the three counties of Kings, Queens, and Suffolk. It lies between 40 34' and 41° 10' n. lat., and between 71' 51' and 74° 4' w. longitude. It is bounded s. and e. by the Atlantic ocean, n. by Long Island sound, and w. by the bay of New 1.-ork and the East river. Its length is about 125 m., its average width 14 m. ; area, 927,900 acres; pop. '80, 744,0'1,2. The coast is indented with many bays and inlets, abounding with shell and other fish. One of these is Peconic bay, 30 m. long, which divides the eastern end of the island into two parts or projections, the one on the n. side terminating at Oyster Pond point, that on the s. terminating at Montauk point, 20 m. farther east. On the s. side of the island is a bay nearly 100 m. long and from 2 to 5 m. broad,.formed by the Great South beach, a strip of white sand from one-fourth of a mile to a mile in width, with occasional open ings to the ocean. Near the western end of the island are Jamaica, Hempstead, Oyster, and Huntington bays. Shelter, Gardiner's, Fisher's and Plumb islands, in the adjacent waters, are attached politically to Long Island. The coasts, bordering as they do on the track of an immense ocean commerce, are furnished not only with a large number of lighthouses, but with life-saving stations, provided with every means of rendering aid to vessels in distress. The surface, though presenting considerable variety, is niarked by no great elevations. A range of hills extends, with frequent interruptions, from the northern boundary of New Utrecht in the w. almost to the eastern extremity of the island on then. side of Peconic bay. These hills are considerably nearer to the northern than to the southern margin of the island. North of them the surface is uneven and rough, while on the s. it has a gradual inclination toward the sea, and is broken here and there by wide sandy plains producing only coarse grass and stunted shrubs. Some of these plains, by the application of manures, have of late years been brought under cultivation. A considerable portion of the island is in forest, from which wild game has not yet been wholly exterminated. There are numerous spriugs and small
streams, and many ponds, some of them quite large, while swamps and marshes abound'. The largest stream is the Peconic, which, after a course of 15 in., empties into the bay of the same name. It furnishes numerous mill seats. Of salt marsh the islaud is computed to contain more than 100 sg.m. With the exception of the sandy plains above mentioned the soil is for the most part fertile, in some sections peculiarly rich. Much of it is in a high state of cultivation, being devoted to the production of vegetables for the Brooklyn and New York markets. This is especially true of the two westernmost counties, Kings and Queens. The climate, on account of the iufluence of the sea, is milder and more equable than the same latitude in the interior, the mer •mry seldom falling below zero or rising above 90°, the average temperature being about 51°. The highest elevations on the island are Hempstead Harbor hill at Roslyn, and West hill in Suffolk co., both which are 384 ft. above the sea. On the s. side, Coney island, Rockaway, Quogue, Babylon, Fire island, Southampton, Easthampton, and Montauk poiut are watering-places, several of which are much frequented in the hot season. Coney island especially, which is but a few miles from New York aixl Brooklyn, and eaSily accessible by boat or rail, within a few years become a place of resort for vast multitudes of people, for whose accOmmodation immense hotels have been erected. l'he Long Island railroad passes through nearly the entire length of the island, from Hunter's Point at the western to Greenport near the eastern extremity, and connects by branches with various places at a greater or less distance from its main track; while there are numerous other and shorter roads, connecting many towns with Brooklyn and New York. Among these are the North Shore, Southern, Flushing and Central, Flushing and North Side, Smithtown and Port Jefferson, New York and Rockaway, Newtown and Flushing, Bay Ridge, Hempstead and Jerusalem, Brooklyn and Jamaica, Brooklyn and Coney Island. etc. Steamboats also ply regularly between New York and the principal to-wns on'the n. side.