LONG-ISLAND, a district of Hebrides. This name is given to that district of the Hebrides which extends from the island of Lewis, on the north, to Barra, on the south; and which comprehends Lewis, Harris, Benbecula, North and South Uist, Barra, and several smaller isles; being a space about 166 miles in length, and in average breadth eight, and containing 1202 square miles. The reason for so many islands being included under this appellation is, that the sounds between them are so shallow, the whole appear as if they had once been a continuous ridge of land; and several of them are, indeed, separated only by a channel which is dry at low water. The principal passage from the east to the west side of the Long Island is by the south of Harris, in which there is a remarkable variation of the currents. See Lewis, Harris, &c.