Fingal's Cave a walkway just above high-water level permitting exploration on foot. From the inside, the entrance seems to frame the island of Iona across the water. Romantic composer Felix Mendelssohn visited in 1829 and wrote an overture, "The Hebrides", Op. 26, (also known as "Fingal's Cave overture"), inspired by the weird echoes in the cave. Mendelssohn's overture popularized the cave as a tourist destination. Other famous 19th-century visitors included author Jules Verne, who used it in his book "Le Rayon Vert" ("The Green Ray"), and mentions it in the novels "Journey to the Center of the Earth" and "The Mysterious Island";
Hebrides South Uist is considered the best place in the UK for the aquatic plant slender naiad, which is a European Protected Species. Hedgehogs are not native to the Outer Hebrides—they were introduced in the 1970s to reduce garden pests—and their spread poses a threat to the eggs of ground nesting wading birds. In 2003, Scottish Natural Heritage undertook culls of hedgehogs in the area although these were halted in 2007 due to protests. Trapped animals were relocated to the mainland. Hebrides The Hebrides (; , ; ) compose a widespread and diverse archipelago off the west coast of mainland Scotland.