Skye

   SKYE, an island, in the Atlantic Ocean, forming part of the county of Inverness, and containing 23,082 inhabitants. This island, which is one of the larger of the Hebrides or Western Isles, derives its name, signifying in the Scandinavian language "Mist," from the vapours in which the summits of its mountains are frequently enveloped. Nearly three-fourths of the lands are the property of Lord Macdonald; and of the remainder, with the exception of Strathaird and part of the isle of Rasay, the whole belongs to the Mc Leods of Mc Leod. The island is bounded on the east by a channel that separates it from the main land of Inverness-shire; and on the west by the Minch, by which it is divided from the islands of North and South Uist. It is about fifty-four miles in extreme length, and varies from three to thirty-five miles in breadth; comprising an area of nearly 450,000 acres, of which about 37,500 are arable, and the remainder mountain pasture and waste. The surface is intersected by three distinct ranges of mountains. The central range, in which the most conspicuous elevations are Glamich and Ben-na-Cailich, varies from 2000 to 3000 feet in height; the northern range, including the heights of Cuchullin and Blaven is of still greater elevation; and the mountains of the southern range average nearly 2000 feet. Between these ranges are tracts of undulating and hilly moorland, varying from 500 to 1000 feet in height; and the only level portions of land are the plains of Kilmuir in the north, and Bracadale in the west. There are numerous small streams abounding with salmon and trout; also several inland lakes, which, however, with the exception of Lochs Coruisk, Creich, and Colmkill, are little more than pools. The coast is everywhere rocky, and in some parts lofty and precipitous, bounded by ranges of cliffs varying from 300 to 600 feet in height, and some of which present beautiful specimens of columnar formation. Of the inlets of the sea, with which the coast is deeply indented, the principal are, Loch Slapin, Loch Scavaig and Loch Eishart, on the south; Lochs Bracadale, Dunvegan, and Snizort, on the north-west; and Broadford bay on the east. The chief islands off the coast are Rona, Rasay, and Scalpa, separated from the main land by the several sounds to which they respectively give name. The arable lands are in a state of profitable cultivation, and in the mountain pastures large numbers of sheep, black-cattle, and horses of small size are reared; the district is also celebrated for a breed of small dogs called Skye terriers. The island constitutes a presbytery in the synod of Glenelg, and contains the parishes of Bracadale, Duirinish, Kilmuir, Portree, Sleat, Snizort, and Strath, all of which are separately described.