DEVIL’S ISLAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 3645, 22 January 1924, Page 10

DEVIL’S ISLAND.

FAMOUS PRISON VISITED, INHUMAN METHOD OF DISPOSING OF THE DEAD. Dr S. 110 Asjoe, who passed through Wei* lington on Monday on the Ling Nam, en. route to Hongkong, was on probably what will be his last visit to New Zealand, as he will possibly open a private practice in Shanghai on his return, to the East (says th© New Zealand Times). Though Chinese bv birth, Dr Ho is a subject of the Queen of the Netherlands, as war, born in Dutch Guinea, where he spent his youth. He later travelled in Holland and France for educational purposes, and eventually graduated in medicine at Edinburgh University. As his wife is Scotch, the doctor’s infant son represents a somewhat extraordinary blending of East and West. The latter is with his mother in Scottish capital, but they will probably later proceed to the East to settle. Dr Ho is one of the privileged few who have visited the famous French prison at Devil’s Island, of the Guinea coast, whero the British and Dutch, as well as the French, have possessions. The prison is about half a day s journey from Cayenne, the capital of the French portion. THROWN TO THE SHARKS. “The prison extends over several islands/* explained Dr Ho, ‘‘for there is really group of them there. Very few men have ever been known to have escaped front Devil’s Island. In fact, it is practically impossible to do so. When there is a death! among the prisoners the body is never buried. A gong is sounded. The sharks intesting the surrounding waters know the sound only too well. The mortal remains of the inmate of Devil’s Island are consigned to the deep. There is a splash, and that la the end of him.” MANY BECOME INSANE. Reference was made by the doctor to the system of solitary confinement cells, in which, the prison seems to abound. The prisoners were unable to commmiicate with each other. “It very often means insanity,’’ he added. “The loneliness is appalling. Many of the prisoners go crazy. No, Devil’s Isle is not a pleasant place! ’ He also stated that there was a tieket-ofs leave system by which French convicts wer& permitted to reside on the mainland. number had been known to escape to thh foreign settlements, but the system on the whole appeared to work satisfactorily. The study of languages—as indeed is only to be expected under the circumstances—is a strong point with Dr Ho. Dutch he is most at home with, though he is equally proficient in English, French, and German, a? well as Chinese. During the present trip of the Ling Nam he made himself conversant with Spanish, in which tongue the majority of tho Chinese passengers converse.