Page:A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland - Johnson (1775).djvu/299

 some information of the present state of, partly by inquiry, and partly by occasional excursions.

is computed to be thirteen miles in length, and three in breadth. Both the ends are the property of the Duke of, but the middle belongs to , who is called , as the only Laird.

is not properly rocky; it is rather one continued rock, of a surface much diversified with protuberances, and covered with a thin layer of earth, which is often broken, and discovers the stone. Such a soil is not for plants that strike deep roots; and perhaps in the whole Island nothing has ever yet grown to the height of a table. The uncultivated parts are clothed with heath, among which industry has interspersed spots of grass and corn; but no attempt has yet been made to raise a tree. Young, who has a very laudable desire