Devil's Island

Our final stop in South America was Devil’s Island in French Guiana. Devil’s Island is really 3 islands, Ile Royale, Ile Saint-Joseph and Ile du Diable, 7 miles off the mainland.  These islands were home to one of the most notorious penal colonies in the 19^th and 20^th centuries.

Both Christopher Columbus and Amerigo Vespucci sailed by in 1498 and 1501, respectively, but never landed. In the 17^th century, this area was controlled by the French, English, Dutch, Portuguese and, finally, the French. 14,000 immigrants were sent to colonize French Guiana in the 18^th century, but 10,000 perished from disease and the humid, hot climate.

In 1854 a penal colony was established for French prisoners and housed some of France’s worst criminals, political and military prisoners. Horrible conditions and illness claimed the majority of prisoners. If someone was released, they then had to spend an equal number of years living in French Guiana before returning to France. So few came home.

Picture 1 shows the 3 islands. Ile Royale, with the only tourist facilities, is on the left, Ile Saint-Joseph is to the right and Ile du Diable is in the middle. Picture 2 shows that the coasts of the islands are lovely, but make escape very difficult. Other than a few people maintaining the facility, the only other residents are the the Palm Rat (Picture 3), which is squirrel-sized and monkeys (Picture 4).

Ile Royale contains remains of the penal colony, which are in various stages of decay and restoration. Picture 5 shows the lighthouse and hospital facility and Picture 6 shows the chapel.

There are 2 residents of note that did leave the island. The first was Alfred Dreyfus, who was convicted in 1893 of treason in France, based on very flimsy evidence. A fortified compound was built for his solitary confinement on Ile du Diable. His appeal was eventually heard and he was retried, but France would not admit their mistake. Instead, the president pardoned him in 1899. In 1906 he was totally exonerated, his commission in the army restored. He then went on to serve gallantly in WWI.  His trial and imprisonment were an embarrassment to the French legal system.

Henri Charriere’s story is also interesting. He was a small-time criminal, who was convicted of a murder he says he did not commit and sent to Devil’s Island.  He became known as Papillon and was depicted in a movie of that name by Steve McQueen. He made several escapes from Ile Royale and was finally confined on Ile du Diable with another prisoner. They stuffed coconuts into the burlap sacks in which they received their meals. He studied the tides and realized that every 7^th wave pulled out, instead of pushing in, so they lashed themselves to the burlap sacks and launched themselves on the 7^th wave and 2 days later arrived on the mainland, where his companion got mired in quicksand. Charriere managed to escape the quicksand and Devil’s Island and documented his time there in the book “Papillon”. France, however, continues to deny the stories in the book and says in the museum on Ile Royale that Charriere merely made up stories and recounted stories of others from a decade earlier. Our lecturer told us that his research indicates the opposite: Charriere more than likely told the truth. Guess it’s time to watch the movie!

We are now on our way through the Caribbean Sea with stops at Barbados, Guadelupe, St. Barts and the British Virgin Islands. We’ll post something about these stops during our last 2 days at sea, before we arrive in Ft. Lauderdale 4/9