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Britain and consisting of atolls, lie on both aides of the equator between 172° and 177° east longitude. They have an area of 166 square miles and a population of about 30,000 natives and 100 whites. The principal islands are Tarawa, Apamana, Aranaka, Tamana, Marakei, and Nonouti. After a brief visit in 1855 the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions began work in 1857 under the Rev. Hiram Bingham, with the help of Hawaiian teachers, and he after seven years' labor retired because of ill-health to Honolulu, where he devoted himself to literary labor for the Gilbert Islanders, and took charge of a Gilbert Island colony. The American Board now works in the nine northern islands, two southern islands, and Ocean Island. There are training-institutions at Kusaie in the Carolinas, and in Ocean Island. Three missionaries work for the group, and much progress is made. The London Missionary Society began work in 1870 and for thirty years the islands were served by native teachers from Samoa. In 1900 a resident missionary was placed in the island of Beru. The London Missionary Society now has 2 missionaries with 5 stations in the Southern Islands, 13 ordained natives, 19 preachers, 576 church-members, 5,281 adherents, 28 Sunday-schools with 1,568 scholars, 29 day ychoola with 1,462 scholars, and a traininginstitution. The Roman Catholics started work in 1892, and there are 12,965 Roman Catholics, 1,800 catechumens, 19 priests, 13 lay brothers, 20 sisters, 87 catechists, 15 head- and sub-stations, 98 schools, and 3,310 scholars.

Loyalty Islands: This French group, consisting of the three large islands of Uvea, Lifu, and Mard, and a number of very small ones, lies in 166°-168° east longitude and about 20°-22° south latitude. They have an area of about 800 square miles and a population of over 15,000. The Rev. Archibald Wright Murray of the London Missionary Society, from Samoa, visited Mard in 1841, and found that a Christian from Tonga had been working there for seven years. Two teachers from Samoa were settled in Mard and the work prospered. In 1854 two missionaries began their residence there. In 1841 Pao from Rarotonga began his apostolic service. The Rev. Samuel Macfarlane arrived in 1859. Two years later a training-institution was started. Native Christians from Mark carried the Gospel to Uvea in 1856. The London Missionary Society has now one missionary in Lifu, and in Lifu and Uvea there are 37 ordained natives, 101 preachers, 37 Sunday-schools with 2,243 scholars; 2,348 churchmembers, and 6,173 adherents. The Paris Missionary Society has one missionary in Mard. The Roman Catholics came in 1864, but were not firmly established till 1875.

Marianne or Ladrone Islands: The Ladrone group, bought from Spain by Germany in 1899 (with the exception of Guam, which is held by the United States), consists of about twenty islands in 142°148° east longitude and 13°-21° north latitude, with a population of about 2,700 natives. Guam has an area of about 200 square miles and a population of 11,490, of whom 331 are foreigners. The Jesuits settled in these islands in 1667. In 1907 the mission became are apostolic prefecture, and now has 12,216

adherents and 6 priests. The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions opened a station in Guam in 1900, and is represented by one married missionary and 50 church-members.

Marquesas Islands: These islands, under the French flag, are closely grouped on both aides of 140° west longitude and in 9°-11° south latitude. They have an area of about 480 square miles and a population of about 4,000. The largest islands are Nukahiva and Hivaoa. In 1797 William Pascoe Crook of the London Missionary Society landed from the ship " Duff " and stayed two years. Other abortive attempts were made by the same society in 1826, 1829, and 1834, and by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions in 1833. In 1853 a Marquesan chief whose daughter had married a Hawaiian asked for missionaries from Hawaii, and in response Kanwealoha and ethers went. There are now 600 Christians under the care of Hawaiian teachers. The Paris Missionary Society has 5 stations, one missionary, and 2 native pastors. The Roman Catholics number 2,800 with 8 priests, 7 lay brothers, 12 sisters, and 29 head- and sub-stations.

Marshall Islands: This group, belonging to Germany and situated northeast of the Carolinas (ut sup.) in about 161°-171° east longitude and 4°-13° north latitude, has an area of about 1,400 square miles and an estimated population of about 10,000. The principal islands are Majeru, Jaluit, Mulgrave, Ralick, and Mentschikoff. The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions paid these islands a brief visit in 1855, and opened a mission in 1857 under Dr. G. Pierson and Rev. E. T. Douane with the help of Hawaiian native teachers. In 1880 the headquarters were removed to Kusaie in the Caroline Islands, and a training-college was opened there. Some Gilbert Islanders trained at Kusaie opened work in Nauru or Pleasant Island, where the Pacific Phosphate Co. employs about 1,500 Marshall and other islanders. In 1899 a resident missionary was placed there, and substantial progress ensued. The American Board has now 4 missionaries for the group, two residing at Kusaie, 20 churches, 83 places of worship, 3,371 church-members, 4,163 Christian Endeavorers, 87 schools, and 1,417 scholars. The Roman Catholic mission has 7 priests, 8 lay brothers, 15 sisters, 4 head- and sub-stations, 6 schools, 170 scholars; 323 Roman Catholics, and 523 catechumens.

New Caledonia: This island is united under French control with the Loyalty Islands (ut sup.) and the Isle of Pines. It is a long, narrow island lying northwest and southeast in 164°-166° east longitude and 2()°-23° south latitude. Its area, is 7,650 square miles, and the native population of the group is about 28,000; the white and other population, including convicts, numbers about 26,000. The London Missionary Society settled native teachers from Samoa in the Isle of Pines and New Caledonia in 1840. Four years later three of them were murdered in the Isle of Pines, and the rest were removed in 1845. The French, who took possession in 1853, would not allow the mission to be recommenced in 1861 and subsequently, but some native evangelists from Uvea in the Loyalty Islands have worked there occasionally. New Caledonia is now a French penal colony, with over 7,000 convicts. The Roman