The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-01-23
DREYFUs' ISLAND HOME.
Great Tragedy I'm It's NeighborhoOd
That Cost 10000 Lives.


That Cost 10000 Lives.
From the New York Sun.
The island on which Dreyfus is i'm
prisoned, within sight of the South Amer
lean coast, and twenty-seven miles from
Cayenne, French Guiana, Is known as
Devils Island de du Diable) while the
three islands in the little group are known
together as Salvation Islands Qles du Sa-
luD. The contrast between these names
Is certainly striking, and the way in
which they became applied to these little
rocks is interesting. and calls to mind one
of the greatest tragedies In colonizatio
that ever occurred.
The islands have considerable verdure.
but In the early days of French Guiana
they had a reputation for sterility which
they did not deserve, and on this account
no use was made of them. They were
named Hes du Diable and were thought
to be of no value until thousands of
wretched immigrants from France who
were perishing among the pestilential
swamps on the Kourou river fed to them
In the hope that they might escape death
1t was in 1868 that about 1900 persons
from Alsace, Lorraine and Saintonge were
landed on the banks of the Kourou
ton of having been compelled to cede
Canada TO England, and the bright idea
occurred to some of her public men to re-
place the lost territory by clubbing Guiana =
Equatorial France" and sending thither
fleet after fleet OF colonists. A more cru
ely msmanaged enterprise was never
known. The men who aroused in France
enthusiasm for emigration knew nothing
whatever of the country to which they
invited the poor victims. They recalled
that in Canada the French had greatly
enjoyed the sport of skating and accord
tngly a large supply Of skates was sent
with the colonists to tropical America.
IL was thought, also, that In their leisure
hours they would require amusement, and
so a company of actors was sent on one
of the ships to build a theater in Equa-
torlal France. Those who provided these
means of diversion, however, forgot to
send sufficient food supplies, and no ar
rangements were made for landing and
housing the settlers. The Chevalier de
Turgot, who was appointed leader of the
expedition, took care to remain in France
The unhappy victims of this blunder
began to perish by thousands and they
thought that II they could only get away
from the plague spot where they had
landed they might have a chance to live.
They were told that the three islands
which they saw off shore we're the lies
du Diable, and that they were worth
nothing for human uses ''At least" cried
the poor unfortunates in their desperation.
"they are swept by ocean breezes. There
Is no poison in the air among those ISL
ands We will call them the lies du Sa-
Tut, for we may hope that they Will save
us from utter extinction.
This is how 1t happened that the three
islands came to be known as Salvation
Islands and the name has chung TO them
ever since. As a group they are known
by no other name. The immigrants gath
cred up what was left of the supply Of
provisions and $500 men, women and chill
dren an that were left of the 1900 who
had landed on the neighboring coast.
crowded upon the narrow, rocky area
which could comfortably hold only about
400 persons They landed on the Islands
without shelter or clothing, and being ex-
posed to bad weather, and having only
the scantiest supply of food their suffer-
ing was great and the most of them died
on the rocks which they had hoped would
help TO save their lives. A few hundred of
them al last succeeded in getting back to
the French port from which they had
sailed
The Salvation Islands were not occupied
again until 1852, when the transport of
convicts TO Guiana began. Saint Joseph
and the lie Royal now form the convict
station proper. on English maps the
three islands are called the Saiut Islands.
and the name lie du Diabfe originally
extended over the group. now applies only
to the island on which Dreyfus is a pris-
oner, and which Is occupied only by him
and his guards.
The Islands are of about the same area.
They form the apexes of triangle, and
between them the deep channel where
large vessels may ride at anchor or lie
moored to the shore They have little
wood or water, but rain is stored in cis-
terms. The shores are rocky, ana here
and there jut out into promotories and
cliffs From Devils Island Dreyfus may
plainly see the other two islands and the
mainland, only seven miles away.