The Republican journal., 1906-05-03
Cayenne, the only Really French City on
the Western Hemisphere.

30, 1906. Going ashore at this pictur-
esque port, you step at once from the
landing and it's mongrel crowds, all jab-
bering and gesticulating literally like
mad" into wide and beautiful plaza
shaded by some of the most magniti-
cent trees of the tropics.
Crossing this, you proceed along a
very dusty road of crushed brick,
around the base of the yellow fort,
whose guns and blue jacketed senti-
nels frown down upon you-past huge
mazasin general, the custom house, the
Colonial treasury, and the large build
ing of the Direction du Port, into the
principal business street of the city,
named the Rue de Port. There are no
hotels i'll Cayenne, or boarding houses
as we know the species, but you may
be lodged in an apartment house and eat
somewhere else in a typically French
pension. Cayenne is mostly laid out at
right angles, in oblong blocks. The
better class houses are of succeed
brick, painted pink, pale blue, white or
yellow, two-storied, with projecting
roofs and dormer windows. Sidewalks
are few and carriages fewer, and to
| view the few points of interest you
must wade to the shoe-tops through flea
infested dust. Except during the Sizes
ia hours, between l l a. N. and O'Clock
when the sun is at its hottest and
everybody slumbers in the shade, shops
closed, business of all kinds suspended,
the whole city like 'some banquet hall
deserted the streets are always
crowded, and as elsewhere in the
Guianas, black faces predominant.
You observe that the Creoles, who
comprise the middle-class, as in Dutch
Guiana, are most conspicuous.
The dress of the women is cut much
too long for them, as are those of their
Paramarbo sisters. They do not hitch
up the slack of the skirt, however, by a
string around the waist, but hold it in
one hand after reckless fashion that
continually exposes bare feet thrust
into dainty French slippers with ex-
tremely high heels and more or less
display of brown leg above. While the
lower classes-the unadulterated Afri-
can and NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. bare
footed the higher classes of compare
lively pure French blood. wear white
stockings, which one supposes at first
glance to be speckled with black; but
ne soon learns, from personal sad ex-
perience, that those multitudinous little
polka dots are living, active feas.
The most interesting thing in
Cayenne is the Place DIES Palmistes or
grove of palm trees-a square, wherein
perhaps five hundred magnificent
palms, averaging 90 feet i'll height, are
planted in lines about 20 feet apart and
the same distance from each other III
straight rows. They are like dozen
of the World-renowned palm avenues OF
Rio de Janeiro's Botanical Garden
massed together-stately halls of Egyp
tian temples, with enormous round
gray pillars, smooth as marble and
straight as arrows, upholding massive
arches of glossy, dark green verdure.
One never tires of walking i'll these
giant aisles, of gazing upward at the
! verdant roof. which trembles and Whis-
pe1s with every passing breeze and
wonder and admiration grow with
each succeeding visit. AT one corner
of this magnificent square are the
buildings of the 'Gendarmerie, an i'm
portant and well-disciplined service in
Cayenne. On another side of the
square the attendance" or Commits
sariat, occupies an entire block, flank
ed by the artillery barracks. Near by
is a military hospital, the Jail, and
what is politically termed "the College"
"a sort of high school for adult Gre
ole citizens. Across the way from this
Place d. Armes is neatly sodded pa.
rade ground, surrounded by rows of
great mango trees. Close at hand is
the ''Hotel du Government, the town
hall, and the government printing Of
flee from which an official newspaper,
printed of course in French, is issued
once week. The Government House
is a square, two STORY, unattractive edi-
flee. The Governor himself lives with
his family in pretty little chalet near
the coast, about six miles east of the
city. The political affairs of French
Guiana are administered by Procura-
tor General, Privy Council, and an
OrdennateuB besides the Governor,
the Military Commandant and the Di-
rector of the penitentiary service.
The city of Cayenne is under the more
immediate control of municipal coun-
Gil. There is also Court of Appeal, a
Tribunal of First Instance, and each
canton has its appointed justices of the
peace; while over and above all. silent
but potent, reigns an apostolic pre-
feet.
On the last day Of our stay at
Cayenne we were honored by an invita-
ton to lunch at the Governors country
4