2 feet square and 4 feet long.
At the further end, and in the same right line, the gallery (_d_)
became low (2-1/2 feet) and narrow (2 feet). Again the roof rose, and
the gallery widened till stopt, in face, by a large transported rock
(_f_); to the right of the rock a rectangular chamber (_e_), 2 feet
broad, extended 4 feet, and ended against rock _in situ_. Round, and
beyond the rock (_f_), the wall of the left side of the gallery was
built, but the passage was so narrow (_g_) that I contented myself by
looking through it. This incomprehensible narrowness is a feature in the
buildings of this period. Some of Captain Otter's officers pushed
through into the small chamber (_h_); beyond this the gallery was
ruinated and impassable; the total length explored was 45 feet."[71]

[Footnote 71: _Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot._, vol. vii. (First Series), pp.
167-8.]

[Illustration: PLATE II.

FIG. 8.

"It is of a bee-hive form, about 18 feet in diameter, 9 feet high, and
covered with green turf outside."

_a_ _a_. doors; 3 feet high, "higher and better formed than is usual."

_b_. fireplace (having a chimney above, which is exceptional).

_c_. row of stones marking off _d._

_d_. bed on floor.

_e_ _e_ _e_. small recesses in wall.

FIG. 9.

Dwelling and Dairy joined, "of the usual bee-hive shape, and green with
the growing turf." Dairy "6 feet square on floor, but roundish
externally."

_a_. doorway; "easily closed with a creel, a bundle of heather, or a
straw mat."

_b_. "a very low interior doorway."

_c_. doorway of dairy.

_d_. fireplace; "the smoke escaping through a hole in the apex of the
dome."

_e_. "the usual row of stones."

_f_. "a litter of hay and rushes for a bed."

_g_. niches in wall.

_i_ _j_ _k_ _l_. various utensils.]

PLATE II.--_Bee-Hive Houses at Uig, Lewis._

(From Plate XXXI. of Vol. VII. of _Proceedings of the Society of
Antiquaries of Scotland_, First Series.)

_Fig. 8._ Captain Thomas selects this as "the most modern, and at the
same time the last, in all probability, that will be constructed in this
manner"--viz., "roofed by the horizontal or cyclopean arch, _i.e._, by a
system of overlapping stones." "The woman who was living in it [about
1869] told us it was built for his shieling by Dr. Macaulay's
grandfather, who was tacksman [leaseholder] of Linshader ... and I
conclude that it was made about ninety years back."[72]

_Fig. 9._ Sir Arthur Mitchell says of this c