Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1888-04-25
The Horrors of the French Penal Col
ony of the Cayenne Coast.

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to the scenes, and whose phraseology
shall follow as closely as possible:
"In the year 1866 l was aboard the
United States steamship Vanderbilt,
Commodore j. r. Rogers, command
ing, and we were acting as consort to
double-turreted monitor on its way
around Cape Horn to Pacific station.
Running short of coal we put in at
the Isles of Salute to obtain our sup
ply.
"To the uninformed | must here
state that the Isles of Salute are off
the French Guiana coast, and are to
France what Botany Bay is to Eng
land. There all noted French Grim
inals are sent, and few, if any, ever
return to their native country. On
being convicted of crime the Grim
inal is given number, and by that
number only is he known his name
becomes thing of the past. If he
has friends it would be an utter i'm
possibility for them to trace him, as
his name and number appears but
once together, and that once upon the
criminal records, which are kept per-
fectly secret. From this it can easily
be imagined how easily he drops from
the knowledge of the world when he
is forwarded to the Isles of Salute to
end his miserable and crime stained
life for end it he must in one year,
perhaps two years. The climate does
it, and what terrible climate it must
be.
Good heavens never before had
seen such an assemblage of care
worn. hopeless, fierce and desperate
countenances. believe the only en-
ployment that could be found for
them was coaling vessels. AS we lay
in the harbor, one thing that struck
me as being singular was the presence
of such large number of ravenous,
man-eating sharks, some tremendous
in size. The harbor was literally
alive with them, and their sharp fins
could be seen cutting the water in
every direction. God help the one
who was so unfortunate as to fall
overheard there. | afterwards learn
ed that none of the convicts were ever
buried upon the island but that the
bodies of the dead had simply weight
attached to them, and were then
thrown into the harbor. This custom
no doubt, explained the presence of
SO many sharks.
1--WE had completed our coaling one
evening and were to sail in two days.
The sun dropped below the horizon,
and as there is, practically, no twi-
light in that region, night soon envel-
oped us in her dark folds. 1t being
sultry, there were number of officers
on the quarterback, among them
Commodore Rogers and myself 1t
was near six bells (11 o'clock when
we were startled by hearing several
exclamations, followed by cautious
call in French, from the port side of
the vessel and apparently from the
water. Orders were Immediately Civ
en- to lower lantern, and when this
was done, we beheld the form of
man. emaciated, haggard and Wild
eyed, clinging to the ide of the ves-
sci. A rope was lowered he was
soon drawn aboard and brought be-
fore the Commodore. He was attired
in Aimsy shirt and pantaloons. One
glance was sufficient to /. inform us
that he was convict. Speaking in
French, he made an appeal to our
commander for protection.
"'But how did you get here, mau?'
cried the Commodore. Good Heav-
ems you never could have swum out
to the vessel ?
"At this question our minds revert
ed to the harbor swarming with
sharks, and /, for one, could not re-
press a shudder at the mere thought.
"Death, no matter in what form,
has no terrors for me- answered the
convict. Since coming here, have
not suffered death thousand times
over? Am | not already dead to my
relatives, friends and the world? The
slight hope held out to me by the
coming of your vessel was sufficient.
The chances of being torn to pieces
by the sharks did not make me shrink
"Our imagination can scarcely grasp
the import of such hopelessness. Fur
ther questions revealed to us that this
poor devil had been French soldier,
and had committed the horrible crime
of striking a superior officer. For
that, he had been numbered and sent
to the Isles of Salute to die linger-
ing death. Listening attentively un-
til the convict had finished, our Com
modore said:
"'My poor fellow, the laws Of hu-
manity cry out to me in your behalf,
but am forced to treat them as Sec
ondary considerations, no matter how
unjust it may be. International laws
are stronger in this case, and ! must