1905-28 2c blue "Great Anteater" Part of the first pictorial issue Quick History French Guiana, on the north-east coast of South America, is still (beginning in 1946) an overseas department of France. It should not be confused with British Guiana (now Guyana) or Dutch Guiana (now Suriname), or even French Guinea (In Africa). Since the Treaty of Paris in 1814, the area has been under French influence. The Capital is Cayenne, and the population was 30,000 in 1936. French Guiana The Îles du Salut (Ironic name for this infamous place!) is where Devil's Island is located From 1852-1946, a penal colony- known collectively as "Devil's Island" to the English speaking, bagne de Cayenne, to the French speaking world- was located just off the coast of French Guiana. It held political prisoners ( Those that opposed Napoleon III coup d etat), Alfred Dreyfus (1895), to thieves and murderers. Of the 80,000 prisoners sent to Devil's Island and French Guiana, very few survived or were ever seen again. Stamps of the French Colonies can be found surcharged or overprinted from 1886-1892. Thirty-one are described in the Scott catalogue, and all are rather expensive; the cheapest $30-$40. 1900 10c red "Navigation and Commerce" SON: Saint-Laurent Du Maroni, a border town in north-west French Guiana Into the Deep Blue For the French Guiana specialist, there are the surcharged/overprinted French Colonies stamps of 1886-92. They are expensive, and I don't have any. ;-) The first formal issue for French Guiana are the well known 1892-1904 "Navigation and Commerce" design, consisting of 19 stamps. An example illustrated above has a nice SON cancel. The Scott Classic Specialized catalogue has 208 major stamp descriptions for regular, semi-postal, air post and postage due categories. Of those, 136 are