Sr (originally Hirt), the farthest west of the Scottish Hebrides, is a small and rocky island in the Atlantic, above 100 miles W. of the Butt of Lewis, in N. Lat. 57° 50', W. Long. 8° 35'. It consists of an irregular mountain ridge, about 3 miles long by 2 in breadth, and, with the neighbouring islets, presents from the sea an outline singularly varied and picturesque. The highest point, Conachan, is 1,450 feet above the sea, and on its western side descends almost perpendicularly to the water. With the exception of a fine bay on the N.E. side, and a smaller opening on the S.W., the coast of the island presents a nearly uninterrupted front of lofty precipices, broken in some places into fantastic peaks, in others hollowed into enormous caves. At the head of the eastern bay, which is well sheltered by the rocky promontories on each side, is the small village, consisting of about 30 houses, to which the population is confined. The inhabitants, in number about 100, are a simple, kind, and active race. They cultivate as much land as is requisite to provide a moderate supply of barley and oats; but their main employment is the capture of the wild-fowls, which from February to October cover the rocks in myriads. The birds mostly caught are the solan goose, the fulmar (or greater puffin), and the common puffin. Of these a supply is salted for winter provision: the feathers, in which principally the rent is paid, are preserved and exported once a-year. The annual visit of the factor affords the only regular means of communication with the rest of the world. Despite their lonely condition, the dangers of their occupation, and their frequent privations in respect of fuel and food, the inhabitants of St Kilda are much attached to their native rock, and very few cases of migration have ever occurred. Most of their infants die of a peculiar malady, which attacks them generally on the eighth day after birth. They have enjoyed since 1705 the services of a resident clergyman, who is at once schoolmaster, pastor, and patriarch of the island. A diminutive breed of ponies was at one time reared in considerable numbers; it is now all but extinct. The native cows are small, but yield excellent milk; the sheep, which number about 2,000, are mostly of Danish breed, small, and generally of a dun colour. The surrounding waters abound with fish, but the inhabitants confine their exertions to dry land. (See Martin's St Kilda, and Wilson's Voyage.)