LEWIS-WITH-HARRIS

lewis-with-harris, the most northerly island of the outer hebrides, scotland. it is sometimes called the long island and is 24 m. from the nearest point of the mainland, from which it is separated by the strait called the minch. it is 60 m. long and has an extreme breadth of 30 m., its average breadth being 15 m. it is divided into two portions by a line roughly drawn between loch resort on the west and loch seaforth on the east, of which the larger or more northerly portion, known as lewis (pron. _lews_), belongs to the county of ross and cromarty and the lesser, known as harris, to inverness-shire. the area of the whole island is 492,800 acres, or 770 sq. m., of which 368,000 acres belong to lewis. in 1891 the population of lewis was 27,045, of harris 3681; in 1901 the population of lewis was 28,357, of harris 3803, or 32,160 for the island, of whom 17,175 were females, 11,209 spoke gaelic only, and 17,685 both gaelic and english. there is communication with certain ports of the western highlands by steamer via stornoway every week--oftener during the tourist and special seasons--the steamers frequently calling at loch erisort, loch sealg, ardvourlie, tarbert, ardvey, rodel and the obe. the coast is indented to a remarkable degree, the principal sea-lochs in harris being east and west loch tarbert; and in lewis, loch seaforth, loch erisort and broad bay (or loch a tuath) on the east coast and loch roag and loch resort on the west. the mainland is dotted with innumerable fresh-water lakes. the island is composed of gneiss rocks, excepting a patch of granite near carloway, small bands of intrusive basalt at gress and in eye peninsula and some torridonian sandstone at stornoway, tong, vatskir and carloway. most of harris is mountainous, there being more than thirty peaks above 1000 ft. high. lewis is comparatively flat, save in the south-east, where ben more reaches 1874 ft., and in the south-west, where mealasbhal (1885) is the highest point; but in this division there are only eleven peaks exceeding 1000 ft. in height. the rivers are small and unimportant. the principal capes are the butt of lewis, in the extreme north, where the cliffs are nearly 150 ft. high and crowned with a lighthouse, the light of which is visible for 19 m.; tolsta head, tiumpan head and cabag head, on the east; renish point, in the extreme south; and, on the west, toe head and gallon head. the following inhabited islands in the inverness-shire division belong to the parish of harris: off the s.w. coast, bernera (pop. 524), ensay, killigray and pabbay; off the w. coast, scarp (160), soay and tarrensay (72); off the e. coast, scalpa (587) and scotasay. belonging to the county of ross and cromarty are great bernera (580) to the w. of lewis, in the parish of uig, and the shiant isles, about 21 m. s. of stornoway, in the parish of lochs, so named from the number of its sea lochs and fresh-water lakes. the south-eastern base of broad bay is furnished by the peninsula of eye, attached to the main mass by so slender a neck as seemingly to be on the point of becoming itself an island. much of the surface of both lewis and harris is composed of peat and swamp; there are scanty fragments of an ancient forest. the rainfall for the year averages 41.7 in., autumn and winter being very wet. owing to the influence of the gulf stream, however, the temperature is fairly high, averaging for the year 46.6°