The Republican journal., 1905-03-30
oIIIH AMERICAN FRANCE
anal colony and its Curious People, its
'.,orracv Gagued by Grades in Color.

correspondence of The Journal
M. FRENCH GUIANA, Feb.
As intensely French as Para
/, Dutch.or Georgetown Eng
,enchy as any vine-draped vii
raj France-this easternmost
If the GuianaS is even more
NAN either of it's neighbors.
dominated by Englishmen,
f English language is spoken
,st customs prevail, are CON-
tuth America-from the guano
IL towns of the western coast,
sleep ranches of the Falk-
Ul> the cattle ranges of Uru-
are and sugar plantations,
ufing and other money-mak-
1rises. to numerous mining
u the far interior; while the
going Dutch are found
tousiderable numbers at sew
put there is no other wholly
munity on the continent.
mers of one line touch regu-
lAyenne-French of course.
Ieh ply between Saint NaZ-
and Martinique, the French
H Island where, at Fort de
lection is made about once
vita smaller steamers of the
for French Guiana. The
ry is little more than a penal
10 which France consigns
ra3s-thousands every year.
e deadly climate, the ma
agunately, perhaps - 60 to
.c1unt within a few months,
urf of South America would
1lyr been as over crowded
W 7courings of France as the
IF With Chinese without the
l.vs. 1t is little more than
ny since the French govern
eIyed the bright idea of max
teI.tlary of this conveniently
i,s9- Ssion, which. since the
.y surrendered it nearly a hun
20. had failed to be of any
NEE except as a death-trap to
ultural colony that attempt
cement. | think it was in
rransportation thereto was
IS a favor to convicts then
1tuce. and five thousand of
.r Y accepted the terms. Later
ouial Minister was permitted,
lecree, to send to French
y africans or Asiatics who
iemned to hard labor or to
niuement; and, as since 1864
the European convicts have
.sned to New Caledonia, the
a9itants of the penitentiary
are now mostly negroes,
nd Anamites. After two
'hp colony those prisoners
met has been satisfactory
.l 10 send home for their fam
a marry in Guiana, and the
rt Nestows upon each a piece
cultivation and the neces-
and implements. So far as
lu Of criminals is concerned,
e.4t results of this interesting
.X erment are said to have
a expectations.
g ife prisoners, and those
, uug terms of hard labor,
-js of the lower class in
.er simple arrest have beg
yllege of Punishment to
nl-rrlng to brave the perlls
aa.e to grinding poverty at
s recorded that the crime
Ire vast majority of female
re sent over was child
u Naving been rewarded for
.cJ While serving their sen
IN lttle farms, they marry
.lvlctS and generally prove
wives and mothers.
lie capital, is the most III
, part of French Guiana. The
tlutnts preferred by these
N pioneers are those along
Haloni, which, flowing from
EuIah mountain, forms a
ne between French and
IA, and after a course of
-mpties into the Atlantic.
J.. trent, on the Maroni, there
5-gable town of eX-convicts,
"iru houses are set up high
LIARS TO keep them out of the
use industrious inhabitants
,+,tfal trades, as carpenters,
auners, bakers, etc.
he, principal prison establish
loose on the kouran river at
5~d the three small islands of
a= title island called La Mere
ri for aged, infrm and con-
-sinllnals. The French Guiana
uR and densely wooded; with
ntaius rising farther inland.
umerouS clusters of small
j covered with forests to the
ige and many of them in
UD cross the mouth of the
a1d steaming close to the
rs du Salut. plunge slowly
great swells of thick, muddy
t0r ISLAND on which Cayenne,
llaI capital, is situated. Ar
te early morning and anchored
French merchant vessels,
an and a crowd of ships and
You can hardly believe that a
oo9 or SO is almost within a
brow of the deck, for a dense
sing down on all sides like a
/. shafts off every object a yard
y and by the fog lifts a little
d palms loom forth IN spectral
then church spires and shad-
IL Of houses and the dismantled
Mat now serves as a signal
Al length you perceive that
nor IS merely a broad estuary
yeral small rivers empty side
lto the sea, forming a number
aS upon one of which is
On every hand are low forts
ANorks, and the most conspic-
eet IS an enormous yellowish-
frr-story barracks, where are
d d thousand French soldiers
.orrrted creatures, all in snowy
SkEolne jackets, yellow epau-
j White stiff hats, with mus
oXrd to points of needle sharp
way to the north is a light
q rntsly g., -, =