We were just waking up that morning of December 23, when we heard the tone for an announcement. We can't hear them in our room so I opened up the door to listen in and heard Captain Stig saying that they were going to be turning the ship to try to make tendering to Devil's Island possible. It didn't feel like the seas were that rough so we thought that would probably work.
Once the ship was turned conditions weren't any better, we could eventually see the waves that the tender ships would have had to deal with, so it turned out we were not going to be stopping at Devil's Island. We were pretty disappointed but realized that this was just the first port where this might happen at and it probably wouldn't be the last.
Let me tell you a few things about what was to be a stop anyway. First thing to know is that there are three islands here, not just one, and all three were part of the French penal colony called “Bagne de Cayenne” in French Guiana, as well as a town on the mainland called St. Laurent-du-Maroni, Maroni is the river it was located on. St. Laurent is important to note as it was the first place that the ships that carried prisoners from France would stop to offload and process the inmates. Most of the men, and all of the few women sent to French Guiana, would stay at this location to work at a logging camp. The incorrigibles and political prisoners were the ones sent out to the islands. As France was trying to populate this colony their policy was that once the prisoners had served their sentence they were then required to stay in French Guiana for the same number of years as their sentence before they could return to their native land. For example, if a man were sentenced to serve a nine year sentence doing hard labor, once he had served that time he then had to stay another nine years in country before he could go home.
The transport of what would eventually be close to 80,000 prisoners to French Guiana over the years began in 1852 when Napoleon III wanted to get rid of political enemies who had opposed his coup d’état the previous year. Along with political prisoners there were murderers, anarchists, thugs, rapists, thieves, whose crimes could range from stealing money or jewels to a loaf of bread, plus the occasional innocent man was in the mix. Sending prisoners here became a way France rid itself of an undesirable slice of society. The Atlantic crossing was horrific for these inmates in the bowels of transport ships, but only a taste of things to come, especially for those who were sent to the Îles du Salut.
You can see how, as we were leaving, this small group of isles appeared to be just one island. Today they are collectively known by the name Devil’s Island, although besides that small island, there are also Saint Joseph Island and Île Royal, the latter is the one where we were supposed to tender to and where most of the ruins of the prison can be found. Sea currents can be strong here, as we found out, and the waters are shark infested so there was little chance of escape. The ironic thing is that the first colonists who came to the islands were escaping the mainland and its tropical diseases, like yellow fever and malaria, that were decimating the newcomers. The outpost became their “salvation” until they could be picked up and taken back to France. It was certainly not that for the men who were subjected to prisoner on prisoner violence, being shackled in the heat and humidity, starvation, cruel treatment from the guards, disease, or being forced to stand and keep moving all day without being allowed to sit down, all in all making it a living hell.
The final convict ship sailed to French Guiana in 1938. Recognizing that the penal colony was no longer viable, plans were put in place to close it down but then WW2 happened and France’s focus shifted elsewhere. By 1947 most of the prisoners had been sent back home and everything was closed up in 1953. The islands and their decaying structures were off limits to anyone and everyone until the 1990s when Devil’s Island became a tourist destination. Ours was one ship full of disappointed tourists, don't let the smile on my face fool you, who weren't going to be able to make their date with this piece of history.
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