cession was to become effective after the President had announced that the amount agreed upon had been paid to Denmark. The proclamation was dated March 31, 1917. (39 Stat. L. 1132; 40 Stat. L., pt. 2, p. 1649.)

In several acts of Congress the former Danish West Indies are referred to as the Virgin Islands, but when possession was taken of them March 31, 1917, the name given by proclamation was "Virgin Islands of the United States of America," to distinguish them from the Virgin Islands belonging to Great Britain. Since June 1917 the U.S. Navy Department has used the abbreviated form "Virgin Islands of the United States," and that name has been adopted by the Post Office and other departments.

St. Croix, the largest island included in this cession, is 23 miles long and 6 miles in extreme width; the highest point is 1,165 feet above sea level; the area is 81.93 square miles.

St. Thomas, 12 miles long, 1 to 3 miles wide; highest point, Crown Mountain, 1,550 feet; area, 27.12 square miles.

St. John, 9 miles long, 5 miles wide; highest point, 1,277 feet; area, 19.2 square miles.

Besides these three, there are nearly a hundred small islands, none as great as a square mile in extent, but having a combined area of about 5 square miles, which makes the total area of the cession 133 square miles.

GUANO ISLANDS

An act of Congress approved August 18, 1856, contains the following provisions:

SECTION 5570. Whenever any citizen of the United States discovers a deposit of guano on any island, rock, or key, not within the lawful jurisdiction of any other government, and not occupied by the citizens of any other government, and takes peaceable possession thereof, and occupies the same, such island, rock, or key may, at the discretion of the President, be considered as appertaining to the United States.

SECTION 5578. Nothing in this title contained shall be construed as obliging the United States to retain possession of the islands, rocks, or keys, after the guano shall have been removed from the same.

Before 1880 bonds were filed for about 70 islands under this act,52

Lists of these islands appear in a circular dated Feb. 12, 1869, in Moore (1906, v. 1, p. 556–580), in Magoon (1900, p. 14–17), and on General Land Office maps of the United States. Brief descriptions of the Pacific islands are given in Brigham (1900) and U.S. Hydrographic Office (1871, 1879, 1880, and 1916). Stewart's Handbook of the Pacific islands (Allen, 1920), besides excellent descriptions of all the principal islands, contains a bibliography. For reference to sovereignty and descriptions of other Pacific islands, see Statesman's Year Book (1929), indexed under heading "Pacific Islands”). The islands in the West Indies are described in reports of U.S. Hydrographic Office (1949, 1951, and 1952).

but erroneous names and geographic positions were given for many of them; for some single islands several names and positions had been given. Some of the most important areas listed as guano islands are as follows:

Navassa Island, lat 18°24′ N., long 75°01′ W.; of volcanic origin; about 2 miles long and 1 mile wide; rises from 100 to 250 feet above the sea. A lighthouse, which operates automatically, is at the latitude and longitude given.

Quita Sueño Bank, lat 14°27.8' N., long 81°07′ W., extends for about 20 miles north and south and has patches of dry land at intervals. It was declared by presidential proclamation of February 25, 1919, to be under the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States, and "the north or other suitable portion" was reserved for a lighthouse. The lighthouse, which works automatically, is at the latitude and longitude given.

Roncador Cay, lat 13°34.4′ N., long 80°05.2′ W., rises about 12 feet above the water. It is about a quarter of a mile long and is at the north end of a series of small cays. By presidential proclamation of June 5, 1919, it was declared to be under the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States and was reserved as a site for a lighthouse. The lighthouse (position above) works automatically.

Serrana Bank, lat 14°17′ N., long 80°24′ W., comprises three low islands, the largest of which, the southwest cay, is about half a mile long and has an extreme height of about 30 feet. This cay was declared by presidential proclamation of February 25, 1919, to be under the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States and was reserved for a lighthouse, which is in the position above given.

The Colombian Government, prior to 1928, disputed the claims of the United States to Serrana and Quita Sueño Banks and the Roncador Cay, but an agreement dated April 10, 1928, between the Secretary of State and the Colombian minister in Washington, maintained the status quo, the United States using the islands for maintenance of aids to navigation and Colombia having fishing rights in the adjacent

waters.

The Swan Islands are in lat 17°25′ N., long 83°55′ W. The western island, Great Swan Island, is about 2 miles long, and the eastern island is about 111⁄2 miles long; each is about a half a mile in breadth. An aeronautical radio beacon and an aviation light are on Great Swan. In Opinions of the Attorney General, volume 34, there is a brief history of these islands and it is stated (p. 515) that

The dominion of the United States Government was extended over the Swan Islands * ** February 11, 1863. * * The sovereignty of the United States attached to these islands as of that date.

Honduras also claims sovereignty over the Swan Islands. Swains Island, also called Gente Hermosa and Quiros, lat 11°03′ S., long 171°05′ W., is about 4 miles in circumference and 10 to 15 feet high; its area, including a central lagoon of one-third square mile, is 113 square miles. It was discovered by Quiros in 1606 and named by him La Peregrina, but the position then given for it was so much in error as to lead an American whaling captain named Swain to assume the right of discovery upon landing there. It was examined in 1840 by the United States exploring expedition under Wilkes and renamed Swains Island. In 1856 and for many years thereafter it was occupied by an American family named Jennings, engaged in raising coconuts. An official communication regarding this island from the British Government, dated January 30, 1918, stated that it was understood "that the island in question is United States territory.” A joint resolution of Congress, approved March 4, 1925 (43 Stat. L. 1357), asserted sovereignty of the United States over this island and made it a part of American Samoa. (See p. 55–56.)

The ownership of some of the guano islands is uncertain. Several of them have been claimed by Great Britain, without formal protest by the United States, except that in the case of Christmas Island (lat 1°57′ N., long 157°28′ W.) the Secretary of State, in a letter dated April 30, 1888, said that the United States reserved all questions that might grow out of the occupation.

The United States took possession of Howland, Baker, and Jarvis Islands in the central part of the Pacific Ocean under the provisions of the Guano Act. Howland and Baker are about 2,000 miles southwest of Honolulu (lat 0°30′ N., long 176°30′ W.) and Jarvis is about 1,500 miles south of Honolulu (lat 0°24′ S., long 160°00′ W.). The islands are uninhabited. In 1936 by Executive Order they were placed under the control of the Secretary of the Interior. At his request the Coast Guard has been asked to visit the islands periodically and submit reports and photographs.

Canton and Enderbury Islands are claimed by both the United States and Great Britain. They are about 1,660 nautical miles southwest of Honolulu at lat 2°46′ S. and long 171°43′ W. Canton Island is used as a landing station by trans-Pacific airlines. Enderbury is uninhabited. The population of Canton Island includes both British and United States citizens. An exchange of notes in 1939 provided for the joint administration of the islands by both governments to continue until 1989, at which time it can be extended if both parties agree. Administration by the United States is under the Department of the Interior, which is represented by the senior Federal Aviation. Agency employee at the air station.

There are some 25 islands in the Pacific over which the United States' claim to sovereignty is disputed by Great Britain or New Zealand. All except the four in the Ellice group (Funafuti, Nukufetau, Nukulailai, and Nurakita), Hull in the Phoenix group, and Fakaofu in the Union group, appear on the lists of guano islands. (For further discussion on guano islands, see Hackworth, 1940, p. 502.)

INTERESTS OF THE UNITED STATES BEYOND ITS

BORDERS

ANTARCTICA

Interest of the United States in the Antarctic was stimulated in the early 19th century by Yankee sealers, who, about 1820, sighted and went ashore on a land they believed to be a continent. The existence of this continent was first proved during the years 1839-40 by an official Navy expedition under Lt. Charles Wilkes, USN.

In the last decade of the 19th century, purely maritime exploration was supplemented by expeditions that landed on the continent and sought to push inland. This phase of Antarctic activity reached its climax when Captain Amundsen of Norway reached the South Pole December 14, 1911, followed by Captain Scott of England a few weeks later.

Exploration by the United States in the south polar regions was revived by the Byrd expeditions in 1928-30 and 1933-35. From his base at Little America on the Ross Ice Shelf, Admiral Byrd made the first flight over the South Pole November 29, 1929, and large areas previously unknown were explored by aerial and ground reconnaissance (Byrd, 1930).

In 1935, another American, Lincoln Ellsworth, first crossed the continent by air.

Although the first two Byrd expeditions were primarily privately financed, some governmental assistance was received in the loan of equipment and personnel. In 1939 the Government created the U.S. Antarctic Service, supported by a congressional appropriation of $340,000, approved June 30, 1939 (53 Stat. L. 980). Exploration the following season was from bases at Little America and on the west coast of the Palmer Peninsula.

After World War II, exploration was under the sponsorship of the Navy. Expeditions were sent out in 1946, 1947, and 1948. Large areas were photographed from the air, by both land-based and carrier-based aircraft.

The privately led Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition, partially Government supported, reoccupied the Palmer Peninsula base in

1947-48. Its work included mapping and exploring the west coast of the Weddell Sea to and along the Lassiter Ice Shelf.

U.S. Government operations in Antarctica were recommenced in late 1954, and in late 1955 year-round bases were established in preparation for the International Geophysical Year (1957-58), a cooperative scientific effort of 11 nations.

Although various nations have announced territorial claims to parts of the Antarctic continent, the United States has not done so. All nations with interests in the Antarctic territory signed a treaty December 1, 1959, declaring the area south of 60° south latitude an international preserve for scientific research. Thus scientific groups can move freely on the southern continent, disregarding boundaries.

MILITARY AND NAVAL BASE LEASES

The United States has leased land from foreign governments at strategic locations and established naval or air bases at those points. The Navy has maintained a base at Guantanamo on the island of Cuba since shortly after the Spanish-American War. In February 1903, Cuba signed agreements to lease or sell coaling or naval stations to the United States in accord with a clause in the constitution of the Republic of Cuba (Malloy, 1910, v. 1, p. 358). The lease at Guantanamo Bay, on the south coast near Santiago, includes about 30 squares miles of land and water. The land boundaries of the area are thus described in the agreement:

From a point on the south coast 4.37 nautical miles to the eastward of Windward Point Lighthouse, a line running north (true) a distance of 4.25 nautical miles;

From the northern extremity of this line, a line running west (true) a distance of 5.87 nautical miles;

From the western extremity of this last line, a line running southwest (true) 3.31 nautical miles;

From the southwestern extremity of this last line, a line running south (true) to the seacoast.

The outlines of this area are shown on U.S. Hydrographic Office Chart 1857.

A convention between the United States and Nicaragua signed August 5, 1914, and proclaimed June 24, 1916 (39 Stat. L., v. 2, p. 1661), provided for leasing to the United States for 99 years the Great and Little Corn Islands and a site for a naval base at a place to be selected bordering on the Gulf of Fonseca, and included the privilege of renewing the lease. Great Corn Island is in lat 12°10′ N., long 83°05′ W. It is about 211⁄2 miles in length and 2 miles in width; the highest point is 370 feet above sea level. Little Corn Island is about 7 miles to the northeast and has an area of about 1