Just off the coast of French Guiana is a cluster of three
islands, Ile Royale, Ile Ste-Joseph, and Ile du Diable or Devil’s Island. The
most infamous of the three is Devil’s Island made so by the book and movie
Papillion. The islands were penal colonies of France and the worst of the
criminals, the political criminals were sent to Devil’s Island. The most famous
of which was Alfred Dreyfus who was wrongly accused of treason and later
released.
The penal colony existed from 1852 when it was instituted by
Emperor Napoleon III until 1946 when it was forced to close. Each island served
a different purpose. Ile Royale was administrative and for prisoner’s deemed
less dangerous. The more hardened criminals were kept on Ile St. Joseph.
Because of the location and the dangerous waters surrounding
them, sharks and strong currents, most attempted escapes ended tragically or
were quickly ended by capture and return to the islands which earned time in
solitary confinement. The most famous escapee, Henri “Papillon” Charriere,
claimed to be the only successful escapee but there’s a possibility there were
a few others.
Agouti |
Solitary confinement building |
We arrived and dropped anchor off Ile Royale about one
o’clock and Bob and I grabbed our gear and made for the tenders. It was already
a hot day and I was thankful that the island had more trees than it had in the
days of the penal colony. I guess with no prisoners to cut them down they grew
heartily.
The tender unloaded its passengers on a jetty probably in the same spot prisoners were unloaded. We however were not shackled and we made our way off the pier and instead of turning left to visit the buildings immediately, we went right to follow the path that goes around the island. I really wanted a chance to walk for a while on solid ground under some trees and with a fresh ocean breeze blowing.
Around a bend, we found the remains of a tower that had been
the base for a cable that ran across to Devil’s Island and was a means of
delivering food and people, I think, as well. Devil’s Island has a rugged coast
that is hard to approach by boat. Besides, I’m sure that they were also afraid
prisoners might band together and commandeer a supply boat.
Hospital |
Eventually we found our way to the center of the building
complex and began exploring what was left of the old cells, the hospital, the
chapel, and other buildings. Some we could wander through and others, like the
hospital, while still mostly standing were closed to the public.
I was glad we’d taken the time to see the movie. It helped
me to visualize and understand better the things I was seeing. Bob took a
picture of me behind bars. I was making a face because I didn’t want to pose
red faced from the heat and with sweat dripping from my hair. Later our son
commented on the FaceBook picture, “Oh my gosh, Mom, what did you do to Dad?”
He’ll never know how close I came. (Just kidding, kids.)
On our way around the buildings and ruins, we saw a
helicopter pad that I’m sure wasn’t there back when and a fenced in small
utility building with some dishes on it. We wondered if that was the tracking
facility for the Guiana Space Centre that launches space rockets eastward over
the islands.
We heard some people talking about seeing monkeys along the
trail and I was sorry we had missed them. When we started back for the tenders
though several people were stopped taking pictures of the trees above them and
we realized we were in time for the monkeys after all.I’m not sure the variety, maybe capuchins? They weren’t
afraid of visitors and were easily enticed by some other guests with a couple
of crackers. People passing by were warning that you’d better hang onto your
hats. The monkeys were known thieves. Perhaps that’s why they were here. Maybe
that’s all that exists of the penal colony residents now. I didn’t wait around
to ask. We took our pictures and gladly left for the air conditioned ship and a
welcome shower.
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