Îlet à Cabrit
Îlet à Cabrit (officially in French: Îlet à Cabrit des Saintes (literally: "Goat island of les Saintes")) is an island in the Îles des Saintes archipelago, in the Lesser Antilles. It belongs to the commune (municipality) of Terre-de-Haut into the French department of Guadeloupe. Geography. Îlet to Cabrit is located, at at the northwest of Terre-de-Haut Island, closing partially the Bay of les Saintes. The island is approximately from east to west and from north to south. Its highest mount up to , Morne Joséphine hill. it contains three headlands, "Pointe à Cabrit" on  the West, "Pointe Sable" in the South and "Pointe Bombarde" in the East, which frame three coves: "Anse sous le vent" in the southwest, "Anse du Bananier" in the southeast and "Anse du Petit Etang" in the North. By its localization, Îlet à Cabrit creates two passages into the Bay of les Saintes, "la Baleine" passage to the East and "Pain de Sucre" passage in the South, which constitute both access roads to the harbours of Mouillage and Fond-du-Curé. History. The strategic position of "Petite Martinique" (former name of Îlet à Cabrit) always served of sentinel's place . In 1777, France built, at the top of "Morne de la Reine" hill (Former name of "Morne Josephine" hill), a fortification named "Fort de la Reine" renamed later "Fort Joséphine". It formed then a defensive system with the "Fort Napoléon" and the numerous battery of the archipelago. The British, who occupied "les Saintes" in 1809, kept "Fort Joséphine" and added water butt to it. After the return of les Saintes under French dominion, "Fort Joséphine" became a penitentiary from 1851, but it was ravaged by a hurricane, on September 6, 1865. It continued however to welcome convicts on the way  towards Îles du Salut, in French Guiana until 1902. In 1871, Îlet à Cabrit became a place of quarantine: a lazaretto, was opened instead of the penitentiary.