556 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGEAPHY AND TRAVEL 



Sandwich Islands, as a place of segregation for lepers, 

 Aguijan Island is of no importance, and Eota, though 

 considerably larger, has only 500 inhabitants. 



Guam, the last island in the chain, is the most 

 populous and important, and is the seat of the Spanish 

 settlement. It is 32 miles in length, and is bordered by 

 reefs in its southern portion. It has a population of 

 9000, two-thirds of whom are resident in the capital, 

 Agaiia, and almost all the rest upon the seaboard, the 

 country inland being almost uninhabited. The Spanish 

 residents are hardly more than 20 in number. A small 

 force of 200 Manila soldiery are quartered here, and the 

 militia comprises nearly all the native male population, 

 and is commanded by native officers. Agafia is also a 

 convict settlement, the prisoners usually numbering about 

 a hundred. The town is beautifully clean, and possesses a 

 hospital, good Government offices, a church, and schools. 

 In 1888 there were 18 schools on the island. Many of 

 the natives speak a little English, and it is said that 90 

 per cent can read and write. There is postal communica- 

 tion with the Ladrones only four times in the year, and 

 they may be regarded as one of the most inaccessible and 

 least-visited parts of the globe, but the occasional calling 

 of the Spanish men-of-war brings them now somewhat 

 more frequently in touch with the outside world than 

 was formerly the case. 



According to the soundings of the Cliallenger expedition, 

 one of the deepest parts of the Pacific Ocean (4475 

 fathoms) occurs to the south-south-west of the Ladrones. 

 East of this chain and that of the Bonin Islands the great 

 depths are quickly reached, and a trough of this deep 

 water, averaging over 3000 fathoms, continues hence 

 nearly to Japan. 



