MALAY ARCHIPELAGO: A chain of four large and numerous small volcanic islands, lying to the southeast of Asia, extending from the Malay Peninsula to New Guinea, also known as the Dutch East Indies. They are divided into the Larger Sunda Islands--Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Celebes; the Lesser Sunda Islands-Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores, Sumba, Sawu, Timor, etc.; and the Moluccas-Buru, Ambon, Ceram, Alma,heira, Ternate, the Sangi, and the Talaut Islands, etc.; area, 943,000 square miles; population (estimated), 32,435,000. The Philippine Islands (q.v.) are sometimes included in the group. An area of about 84,000 miles on North Borneo is under British control, while Portugal has 7,500 square miles of territory on East Timor; the rest of the archipelago is under Dutch control. The majority of the inhabitants are Malays, divided into the savage and semi-civilized tribes. There are over half a million Chinese, 60,000 Dutch, and about 3,000 Europeans and other foreigners.

A Hindu invasion antedating the Christian era was followed first by a Buddhist and later by a Brahmin wave, each leaving its impress on the natives. A Mohammedan invasion in the twelfth century resulted in a wide-spread Mohammedanism, and Arab influence was paramount till the coming of the Dutch in 1521. In 1602 the Dutch East India Company established itself in the archipelago and at once began the work of civilizing and Christianizing the people, which was demanded by its charter. The Malay language was reduced to writing, and numerous schools were established; by 1688 the New Testament was given to the people, and in 1733 the Old Testament was also completed. But the work of these missionaries of the company was largely perfunctory; any person so desiring was baptized and ranked thereafter as a Christian, though heathen in habit. The company dissolved in 1795, and no further Protestant mission work was attempted till 1812, when the Netherlands Society sent its first missionaries. They were followed by the English Baptists (1820), the American Board (1834)1 the Netheclagd§ MegapWt Mill

Sion Union (1847), the Java Committee (1855), the Ermelo Missions Society (1856), the Netherlands

Missions Union (1858), the Missions of the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (1859), the Utrecht Missionary Society (1859), and the Netherlands Lutheran Church (1882). Other societies are the Rhenish Society (1835), the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (1837), the Neukirchen Missions Institute (1882), and the Methodist Episcopal Society (1889).

However, the results of missionary work were meager, largely owing to the attitude of the gov ernment toward Mohammedanism, which flourished under Dutch rule, and to the fact that the missions

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acaalet were uniformly poorly manned, with the exception of those of the Rhenish Society. There was a lack of aggressive work, and heathen remained heathen or became Mohammedan. Even the Christian communities that resulted from the early missions were neglected. Dutch missionaries were scat tered throughout the archipelago, their most suc cessful work being in the Minshassa district of Celebes, which is practically Christianized. The Rhenish Society has worked among the Dyaka of Borneo, the Bataka of Sumatra, and on the smaller islands of Nias and Mentawei. The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel occupies British Borneo, with stations in North Borneo, Sarawak, and La, buan, and the Methodist Episcopal Society (LT. S. A.) has a small work in Java, Sumatra, and Borneo. The English Baptists and the American Board both attempted to establish missions in Sumatra early in the nineteenth century, but the English mission aries abandoned the field, and the Americans were massacred by the natives. The moat successful work of the Dutch societies in the Celebes, Moluo cas, and adjacent isles was taken over by the Colonial State Church in 1865, but their " missions helpers " were restricted to work among the nom inal Christians, and did nothing for the heathen multitudes. In 1888 the secretary of state for the Netherlands Colonies notified the Protestant Neth erlands societies that " the government would value it highly if they would increase their staff of mis sionaries so as to counteract the growing influence of Islam." Nothing came of it, and the Dutch mission force still remained inadequate at the be ginning of the present century, and the Dutch gov ernment continued to obstruct the work of Chris tians while giving free scope to the Mohammedans. At that time there were about 345,000 Protestant and 30,000 Roman Catholic Christians. Of late years the attitude of the government has been more friendly, the spread of Mohammedanism has had a decided check, and there has been progress all along the line. There are 11 Protestant societies, working in 521 stations and outstations; 269 mis sionaries and 592 native helpers; 492 schools, with 23,168 scholars; 3 hospitals and dispensaries; 148,708 professed Christians. The Roman Catho lics have 38 stations and outstations, 50 priests, 29 schools and 6 orphanages; and 50,000 communi cants and adherents. Their missionaries are under the apostolic vicar of Batavia, and come from the Foreign Missionary Society of Paris. They are working in both British Borneo and throughout the Dutch possessions, making special efforts in the islands where the Protestants are doing least. Their work is noteworthy for the large number of orphanages. The work throughout the archipelago is noted for the number of con verts from the Mohammedans. The number of converts during the last twenty-five years is esti mated at 20,000.

Theodora Crosby Bliss.

Bibliography: For description of the people consult: A. C. Haddon, Headhunters, Black, White, and Brown, London, 1901; W. 13. Furness, Homo-Life of Borneo Head-Hunters, Philadelphia, 1902; H. Breitenstein, tl Jahre in . . . Bor neo, Java, Sumatra, 2 vols., Leipsic, 1899-1900. For mis sions consult: H. Needham, "Ood First "; or, Heater Needham's Work in Sumatra. London, 1899; H. Dijkatra, Hot enaugeZie in o»ze OoaE, 2 vols., Leyden, 1900-01; S. Cooloma. De Zendingaeeuw voor Nederlandach Ooahlndie, Utrecht, 1901.