Smallest of the Iles du Salut, off French
Guiana, 43 km/27 mi NW of Cayenne. The group
of islands was collectively and popularly
known by the name Devil's Island and formed a
penal colony notorious for its terrible
conditions. Alfred Dreyfus was imprisoned
there 1895-99. Political prisoners were held
on Devil's Island, and dangerous criminals on
St Joseph, where they were subdued by
solitary confinement in tiny cells or
subterranean cages. The largest island,
Royale, now has a tracking station for the
French rocket site at Kourou.