THE DEMONS' ISLANDS 9 



shores was infested, and the clamour of infernal 

 orgies carried on in the woods could be heard far out 

 at sea. Fiends shrieked amongst the riggings of the 

 ship, as if to warn the sailors of the fate that awaited 

 them should they dare to approach the haunted 

 islands. 



It is difficult to disentangle history from romance 

 in the story of the damsel Marguerite, who was cast 

 adrift on one of these islands. She was the niece of 

 Sieur de Roberval, a noble of Picardy, who fitted 

 out an expedition to the Far West in 1542. Her 

 amour with a gentleman on board, who joined the 

 adventure on her account, so enraged her uncle that 

 he stopped the ship and dispatched her to the island, 

 attended by an old Norman nurse. As the ship 

 set sail, her lover jumped overboard, braved the 

 dangers of the sea, and reached her. After two 

 and a half years, a fishing craft, attracted by the 

 smoke rising from the fateful island, landed and 

 rescued Marguerite. The story that is said to have 

 fallen from her own lips is contained in an ancient 

 manuscript, bearing the date 1586, after which the 

 islands were known as "Les lies de la Demoiselle." 

 It is a singular narrative, containing graphic pictures 

 of the demons raging round the hut and attempting 

 its destruction. The fiends assumed the forms of 

 hideous beasts and nameless monsters, a veritable 

 "brood of Hell," that stretched out their claws to 

 tear down the frail shelter that stood between them 



