Evening star., 1924-06-26
SMALL FARMING AREA
IN FRENCH GUIANA
Barely Twenty Square Miles Out
of $4,000 Devoted to
Agriculture.
FAMED AS PENAL STATION
Convict Milestone RobS Section of
Chance to Progress.
FAMED AS PENAL STATION

French Guiana, to which French
courts recently sentenced Germans
from the Ruhr convicted of sabotage.
is the subject of the following bull
letin from the Washington head
quarters of the National Geographic
Society:
Because it has been heard of
principally in connection with the
deportation of convicts. and especial
y -. regard to the Dreyfus case,
French Guiana has gained a black
name says the bulletin. 1T is true
the region has been developed chiefly
deserves its evil repute; but in
physical aspects and possibilities. at
least. il is closely comparable to
British and Dutch Guiana, both of
which have had a measurable degree
of prosperity. With the convict
milestone around its neck, French
Guiana, as a colony, has never really
had chance.
On Mainland of West Hemisphere.
This only French possession on
the mainland of the western hemi-
sphere is situated about midway of
the northern shore of South America,
on one side touching Brazil not far
from the mouth of the Amazon. and
on the other. Dutch Guiana. 1t is. in
both size and shape, closely COM
para BILE to South Carolina, but there
the likeness stops. French Guiana is
only 200 miles north of the equator,
while South Carolina is some 1890
miles farther north The climate is
fairly hot throughout the year and
the fainfall is heavy. Mangrove
i'll =
are grassy plains. small editions of
those of Venezuela. and beyond these
are some of the densest forests to
be found in South America.
Except for gold fields on some of
the rivers. only the coastal fringe has
been utilized by the French Mid
way inland communities of former
negro slaves live-the so o-called bush
negroes the few remaining
Indians have been pushed still far
ther from the coast. Agriculture
hardly exists. Of the $1,000 square
miles or more of the possession bare
ly twenty square miles are in
cultivation. The total population is
proba ably less than $4,000.
Cayenne Gave Name to Pepper.
Cayenne, known by sound at least
because it has given its name to a
pepper, is the capital and only port
of Importance in French Guiana. Its
inhabitants number $1,000. nearly "A
third of the entire population OF the
country. With its houses of coIored
stucco and its avenues and squares
shaded by superb palms. il has at
tractIVe aspects. In il dwell men of
many clImes and colorS Chinese keep
the shops; natives of Indo-China sup
ply the markets; otfiCialdom is
French: and on the streets are to be
seen CreoleS from Martinique. Arabs
from northern Africa and negroes
from Senegal and the Guiana interior
Among the other public buildings
in Cayenne is the Inevitable peniten-
tlary in which are housed some OF the
transported criminals. st. Laurent,
the WeSternmoSt town in French
Buland, on the Maroni River. opposite
the Dutch village of Albina, is the
seat of penal administration for the
colony. There the directors of the
penal establishment reside and near
by is group of penitentiaries. Nine
miles away. at the end of French
Guia ma s only stretch of railroad. is
ST. Jean, a penal settlement where
convtcts live in cottages
Where Dreyfus Was Confined.
What may be considered the apex
Guiana, however, is not at st. Laurent.
but on the Hes du Salut, off shore
forty miles from Cayenne. On St.
Joseph and Isle Royale are peniten-
tiaries for dangerous criminals. The
third, He du Diable-Devils Island
is the heavily fortified abode of life
prisoners. 1t was there that Capt.
Dreyfus, victim of plot in the
French army, was confined.
"Thousands of Frenchmen lost their
lives from tropical fever in the effort
to coloniZe Guiana before it was set
aside for ConviCts. OF $4,000 volun-
teers sent out in 1863 from Alsace