HARRIS, one of the Hebrides or Western Islands
of Scotland. It is about 25 miles in length, and from 6 to 8 in breadth. Upon the east side it is molli rock; but on the west there are some tolerable furrows, and the number of people amounts to 2500. It has Lewis on the north, and North Uist on the south, from which it is separated by a channel of four miles in width, called the Sound of Harris. This channel is navigable for vessels of burden, but it requires a skilful pilot. It is the only passage between the Butt of the Lewis and Barra for vessels of burden passing to and from the west side of the Long Island. The found is generally encumbered with rocks and islands, some of which are considerable, as Berners, Pabbay, Ensay, Killegray. These, with Scalpay, Taranpay, and Scarpy, compose the inhabited islands on the coast of Harris. Some of them produce good crops of grain, and all of them good pasture. Harris and its islands sell from 400 to 500 tons of kelp annually; it abounds on the east side in excellent lochs or bays, and its shores on both sides form one continued fishery. The fish on this coast, and along the whole shores of the Long Island, are more numerous, and of larger dimensions, than those on the opposite continent; on which account, two royal fishing stations were begun in the reign of Charles I. one in Loch Maddie, and the other in the Sound of Harris.