UIST, South and North, two of the Hebrides Islands. South Uist is situate in 57° 7' and 57° 25' N. lat., and 7° 12' and 7° 28' W. long. Its extent is twenty-one miles, its greatest breadth about eight miles and a half, and its superficial extent is calculated at 127 square miles. The population in 1831, including small islands attached to it, amounted to 6890. North Uist is separated from South Uist by the island of Benbecula. It is situate between 57° 40' and 57° 48' N. lat, and 7° 1' and 7° 30' W. long. It is of an irregular triangular shape, and has a length of nearly seventeen miles, a breadth of about twelve miles, and contains a superficial extent of 118 square miles. The population in 1831, including the island of Boreray, amounted to 4603. The rocks of both islands are gneiss, and both present nearly the same physical appearance, being broken up by innumerable branches of the sea, and having their surface covered by a multiplicity of fresh-water lakes, a few feet in depth, so as to render it difficult to determine whether water or land prevails. They are also completely destitute of wood, and the land may be said to be rather extensive series of peat-bogs and sand-levels, than of soil. In South Uist there are three distinct groups of hills, which exclusively occupy the eastern side, the highest of which is Heckla, rising to an elevation of 2940 feet; while the western division is a level tract of peat, which terminates, at the extreme west, in sand. Barley, oats, rye. and potatoes, are cultivated here, by the use of seaweed and the ordinary manure. Portions also of the middle tract are cultivated, where the ground is firm, and naturally drained by means of the lakes. North Uist also rises on its eastern side, towards the north, into a low ridge of hills, which gradually increase toward the south, till they rise to an elevation of 2000 feet. Westward from this there is a large brown, peaty, and boggy flat tract, comprising nearly half the area of the island, and producing scanty and wretched herbage. The south-west part however terminates in an uneven tract of good land, the soil of which contains clay; and this being aided by peat and drift seaweed, and mixed with sand, forms an excellent open mould, applicable to the cultivation of barley and potatoes. This forms the principal part of the arable land in North Uist. In both islands, however, the peat is undergoing a gradual amelioration toward mould, by the diffusion of the sand, formed for the most part of various comminuted shells, which is blown by the wind over the surface. The rearing and exporting of cattle, the fisheries, and the manufacture of kelp, which is now in a very depressed state, are the means by which the inhabitants earn their subsistence. There are various remains of military works and barrows found in North Uist. The population of the two islands being 11,493, and their superficial extent 245 square miles, the number of inhabitants for each square mile is forty-seven; while in the rest of Scotland the proportion is eighty-six to each square mile. Even this small number is too great for the unproductive state of the soil. The growing scarcity of fish, and the fearful over-population, have reduced the greater part of the inhabitants to a state of wretchedness. Education is in a very backward condition. In 1831 the number of well-educated persons was thirty-three, and the number of those above six years of age unable to read was 7400. In 1838 the number of schools was 15, and of scholars 590.