Show - —- 1- J1 4 T' rivel mbt :atit cake Ztibune 0 Sunday—June 269 1988 Section T Page 1 ' 4 0 'VW 411101111111011111111111111111111111111101111111111 i : ' i It' A A Ar 44 - "4 4 lk '0- e I 4 V ' 7 ' - 1i - - - t ' -- 01- -- -- 1 moll j S - - 1 Aie""" - Ili - - ' ' i "'""'-' tilk (-- w k ' Ng ob N rl ' I 'SW 00 i '' — 44r''' - e0444444- - ' e44 g 4 71 t 1 1 t I I i N ) 111111 ain ' - 11 - IMt iiti I ' 1 0rnmo x -- - 0 m - ' dr 14 la la aa 011Y 4 O "It kW 0 0 8 AO 41 A 01""1"" 44 v A AMP ' ---- --m e 3 p 1- t ' t ' ' - rt Story by Richard Carroll - ILES DU SALUT French Guiana — Through the driving rain the mist j covered French islands of Royale St Joseph and Devil's an infamous trio hover surrealistically on the horizon Ten miles off the coast of French Guiana South America the islets were a world of despair for 70000 hapless souls Convicted by the French courts of everything from political crimes and minor robberies to murder and forgery they were brought in by ragtag freighters handcuffed and shackled like a cargo of cattle The islands ironically knbwn as Isles du Saint (Islands of Salvation) when nuns missionaries and others took refuge here during a yellow fever epidemic were established as a penal colony in the late 1700s In 1852 the first prisoners came over in large numbers to face solitary confinement disease malnutrition and madness More than 50000 died their bodies thrown to the sharks Few returned to France Though the records were poorly kept and now lost the last prisoner mercifully was released in 1958 Nothing prepared me for the verislands apdant sweep of palm-cla- d pearing as tiny gum drops in danger- t ' ous wind-riffle- d seas Ominous rolling waves with a surging undertow crashed in defiance against rocky shores a natural deterrent for escape A new port for Sitmar Cruises and part of the Amazon River itinerary the beauty of the islands seemed incongruous as a setting for one of the most notoriously cruel penal colonies in history Light music flows across the deck of the plush liner the aroma of freshly baked pizza heady perfume and pungent suntan lotion permeates the air A small child skips by holding a pink balloon singing to herself and then stops to gaze at the islands as two delicate butterfliss pause on the rail We see the exact panorama the convicts first saw as the gleaming white ship anchors behind a sand bar In a tricky shallow current A difficult Job at best for the captain who will bring the vessel in only during daylight hours and at one point is working with only a meter or so of water between the ship and the ocean bottom Years before the convict ships sailed through a window ledge to hell framed with ferns showy hibiscus towering trees and puffy rain cloudswhere the flow of life stopped and a world of absolutes were set in place used as a Devil's islands is not anname for other happy destination port call For 106 years the most harsh conditions on earth were imposed within one of the most attractive settings anywhere The convicts knew "If the sharks don't get you the guards and mosquitoes will' It is easy to hear ' 1 t' i r - three - the echoes of pain and wasted lives in the coconut palms whispering under the half spent breath of the wind With hundreds of miles of sea receding from its edge we take a bumpy 10 minute tender ride from the ship through the large swells to Royal Island the only one still inhabited and open to the public to a small landing area built by the prisoners Visitors are not met by a welcoming committee tour guides vendors or even a sign A noisy generator g bangs away standing alongside a y building with rusty bars embedded in the window openings its grass choked walls smelling of mold and decay Jail gates hang askew setting an eerie spine chilling mood of emptiness A cobbled path leads up a small terraced incline to the center of the island past blooming bougainvillea buzzing with humming birds wings glistening in the warm rain Magnificent red poinsettias are growing wild along the hillsides among the trees g and from rocky walls The night before in the ship's cinema we had watched the timeless movie "Papillon" and thought about Henri Charriere a small time criminal known as Papillon for the butter- fly tattooed on his chest Sentenced to life for a murder he claimed he never committed Papillon trudged up this same path under leafy trees large coconuts dropping to the ground around him dragging - — momenemxmwmom$004 At top the view of Devil's Island from Royale Island Below Sit mar Cruise's Fairwind sits anchored off Devil's Island two-stor- N - -I- ' ' - f - ' '4‘‘ -- 4 ' v ' ' - -- ' - t ' ' 2 t - Itwe"-- t' - -- - - '''ø' - -- : -- ' : - p d 4 ' 16-:'- 1! LOW - -- -- - ' - ' I " 0 ''''' ' 1- - ' I 4 "" ' 1 -- ' - - 4" it - I ' 4 I 1 - f - - ' f ) 1 -r- - 1 ks s 1 1 I f l TIF i 1 s $ ' I -- I - '' - 1- -t ' t —i ' ‘ i f 4 - s 4' ' - 1 r te - ::- 1 (:) 11 7- te 7 --- '' '''"W - t 1t1 fi y y -- - '' --- ---- 4 - f ' I Pr i ac-- '' low-lyin- - I t P' r's t '' '') c '' ' ' ga fit 11 I ' 11 ' ' i ' ' ' i ' ' - ' L ' - 4 ' 1 -- ' ! i ' n I ( ' ' a I ' ' 4) nr 4 - ''' - ' t s - - leg irons his hands cuffed while parrots flew about squawking loudly at one another in the scented air Eight times he attempted to escape and for his efforts spent 42 months in a tiger cage in solitary confine- men t where men lost touch with reality their screams heard throughout the colony The only glimmer of hope was sparked by tapping on the walls from cell to cell Shipped to Devil's Island and See T-- Column 1 3 Clockwise from right hospital room entrance in the old Devil's Island penal colony inmate drawings on hospital room wall tenders ferry passengers from ship to Royale Island —Photos by Donna – - - 2 - ' ' '— - -' -' ' '"' - Conn PlielQWrMinteat V 714 Prt'd 1 g 4qPlogat y '' - 4 ' ' - N U à 4 AIM 4111111111111111111111MOM - - - - - ----- - - --- -- - - - - ---- - - -- - 1 - -- - - - - f ' - - |