UIST. Under the name Uist, may be compre hended a large portion of that range of the He brides going under the appellation of the Long Is land. It may be divided into North Uist, Benbecu la, and South Uist, which, with their smaller is lands, are all politically attached to Inverness-shire.
North Uist is a parish by itself. It is bounded on the N.X.E. by a sound of a mile broad, dividing it from the island of Berneray; on the E.S.E. by a channel denominated the Little Minch, dividing it from the Isle of Sky; on the S.S.W. by a strand overflowed by the sea at high water, which divides it from Benbecula; and on the W.N.W. by the Western ocean. It is about twenty miles in length from north to south, and from twelve to eighteen miles in breadth. Almost the only cultivated parts of the island are those on the west and north coasts, which are low and level for nearly a mile and a half inland. In favourable seasons, these parts yield luxuriant crops of bear. The soil nearest the sea is sandy, and between that and the moor is a thin black ground, covering either a hard gravel or so lid rock, interspersed in some places with flats and meadows. In winter the grass entirely disappears, so that cattle are then fed, partly on straw, and partly on sea-weed. The rest of the country con sists of a barren, soft, deep, moony soil, and hills of no great height covered with heath. The fresh water lakes are extremely numerous; many of them are large, and contain rocks and islands. So nu merous are the shoals on the western coast, that it is inaccessible even to small boats, excepting in very fine weather. The east coast is bold and rocky, and much indented by inlets of the sea, many of them forming safe and commodious natural har bours. That farthest to the north is called Cheese Bay; it is of easy access from the S.E., and vessels may ride safely in it at all seasons of the year. Loch Maddie is a well known harbour, much frequented by ships trading to the Baltic. It extends five or six miles into the country, and is subdivided by the great number of islands it contains, into several smaller havens. Lochevort lies a few miles farther south, and is of the same extent, but, from its vicinity to Loch Maddie, it is less frequented. More to the south still are the harbours of Rueheva and Kellin.
A league to the northward of North Uist, lies Berneray, a fertile island of a mile and a half long. Within it lies Orinsay, an island only at high wa ter; it is hall' a mile long, of a sandy soil, but fertile in good seasons. Three miles westward lies Val
lay, likewise insulated at high water only, and, when the tide is out, separated from the shore by a sand two miles broad. It is a mile and a half long, not half a mile broad, and of a sandy soil, fer tile in corn and grass in a good season, but very unproductive in bad years. Two leagues to the northward of North Uist lies Heisker, about two miles long, but very narrow. It is valuable for its kelp shores alone; yielding very little grass, and but a small quantity of corn. Kirkbost and Ileray stretch pretty closely along the west coast of North Uist, being separated from it, and from one another, by a sand overflowed at high water. The former is T a mile long, very narrow, and of such a sandy na ture, that it is literally in danger of being blown away by the wind. The latter is three miles long, and half a mile broad, and of a soil partly sandy, and partly black, and yielding tolerable crops of barley and pasture. Grimsay, also an island at high wa ter, lies between North Uist and Benbecula; it is two miles long, and covered with heath, but is very valuable for its kelp shores.
Benbecula, lying to the south, is isolated from North Uist,only by a shallow sound, fordable at low water; it is divided from South Vist by a strait se ven miles broad. This island is ten miles in circum ference; its western coast is low, but its eastern side is hilly.
The island of South Uist is about twenty-seven miles in length from north to south, and from seven to nine broad. The channel called the Little Minch, on the east, separates it from Arissag and Ardna murchan on the main land; and it i3 divided from Barra, lying to the south and west, by a sound eight or nine miles broad. The soil on the western coast is light, sandy, and almost rendered useless by the constant storms from the west; for although there are fine fields of natural grass here in sum mer, many of these spots are covered in winter by drifted sand, so that not a trace of verdure is to be seen for many months. Farther inland, there is one continued assemblage of swamps and lakes: still more to the eastward there are high mountains, co vered with heath, but with verdure enough inter mixed to pasture cattle, horses, sheep, and goats, during the summer and autumnal months. The natural harbours are on the east coast, and are called Loch Skiport, Loch Enort, and Loch Boisdale: they are well adapted for fishing stations. South Uist and Benbecula form one parish.