An analysis has been made of gamma rays from the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) using data from the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory. After correcting for foreground gamma rays from cosmic ray (CR) interactions in our own Galaxy it is found that the gamma ray intensity maps show a displacement of peak position away from the peak of the atomic gas contours and towards the peak of the starlight contours. An explanation is advanced in terms of there being an increasing contribution from inverse Compton interactions, this contribution being bigger the higher the energy.Our earlier contention that the average cosmic ray intensity within the LMC is only about 15% of that in the Galaxy is confirmed.

EGRET data from the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory have been used to determine the flux of gamma rays from the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). When compared with data at other wavelengths it is found that the parents of the gamma rays, the initiating cosmic rays (CRs), are concentrated much more strongly than is the case for the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). A consequence is that unless a single discrete gamma-ray source is responsible, the efficiency of CR production and/or trapping in the SMC is higher than would have been expected on the basis of the LMC results; there is also a hint that the SMC may be relatively richer in CR protons than the LMC.