March 25, Devil’s Island – or specifically Ile Royale of Devil’s Island

Devil’s Island is one of the three infamous penal colonies of the Islands of Salvation, the other being Royale Island and St Joseph Island developed in French Guiana and located 10 miles off the South American coast. Today all three islands are generally considered Devil’s Island. The penitentiary was first opened by Emperor Napoleon III’s government in 1852, and became one of the most infamous prisons in history before closing in 1946. Once the prisoner served his sentence and was free he had to pay for his own transportation back to France, and because they had no money they all were forced to stay on the island or surrounding land. Each Island served a different purpose of the penal colony: Royale (the one we actually toured) was the site of the administration center, the wardens’ accommodations and for prisoners deemed less dangerous. The more troublesome convicts of hardened thieves and murderers were kept on St. Joseph. On the almost inaccessible Devil’s Island, political prisoners were kept in isolation. A sentence to Devil’s Island or the neighboring islands was considered the equivalent of a death sentence. A great many of the more than 80,000 prisoners sent to the harsh conditions at disease-infested Devil’s Island were never seen again. The dense jungle; malaria & yellow fever; sharks and piranhas; and rough current and rocky shores served as a detriment for prisoners to escape. The prisoner who became world famous was Henri Charriere, immortalized in the movie Papillon, for supposedly being the only convict ever to have escaped from the “green hell.” In 1965, the French government transferred the responsibility for most of the islands to its newly founded Guiana Space Center. France, the Russians, and Europeans use the mainland for missile launches and the islands for tracking. We tendered in to the Royale Island and were able to roam freely throughout the uninhabited island where they had guides positioned throughout the island to explain the various ruins. It was an interesting day and I was thankful it wasn’t too hot that I couldn’t walk the 2 miles up the steep hill to see all the cells and buildings. It was also nice to see the blue ocean after the week of brown Amazon water. Tomorrow – sea day