DEVIL'S ISLAND.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 201, 26 August 1935, Page 5

DEVIL'S ISLAND.

NO CONVICTS THERE. POLITICAL EXILES. HORROR STORIES "DEBUNKED" (Special.—By Air Mail.) LONDON, August 3. Davil's Island, the French penal settlement which is so dear to the hearts of sensational novelists and scenariowriters, has once again been "debunked." This time the true story comes from the mouth of no less an authority than Mme. Lamy, wife of the Governor of French Guiana, where the island is. The fact is that L'lsle de Diable—its real name—is a small rock less than two-

thirds of a mile round on which five political exiles live. Each has his own house and servant. "The penal settlement itself is on the mainland of French Guiana in South America," said Mme. Lamy, who is on holiday in London. "There are 36,000 convicts, but they wear no chains and are not confined in terrible cells. Most of the civil officers over there have convicts for their servants. There are convict chefs, hairdressers, butlers — everything. Off the coast are three islands. One of them is Devil's Island. The others are Royale and St. Joseph. Royale is very healthy and is used as a sanatorium for the sick convicts. Often officials from the mainland go there for a holiday. "St. Joseph is the punishment island — where the prisoners who repeatedly break the rules are sent. This island is the only one that even faintly resembles the stories told of Devil's Island. There are 200 convicts there. There is no corporal punishment of any kind in the colony."