the mainland, Papillon encountered Cuic Cuic, who had built a hut on an "island". The hut was set on solid ground surrounded by quicksand; Cuic Cuic depended on a pig to find the safe route over the quicksand. The men and the pig made their way to Georgetown, British Guiana, by boat. Papillon decided to continue to the northwest in the company of five other escapees. Reaching Venezuela, the men were captured and imprisoned at mobile detention camps in the vicinity of El Dorado, a small mining town near the Gran Sabana region. Surviving harsh conditions there, and finding diamonds, Papillon was eventually released. He gained Venezuelan citizenship and celebrity status a few years later. The impact of Papillon The book was an immediate sensation and bestseller, achieving widespread fame and critical acclaim. Upon publication it spent 21 weeks as number 1 bestseller in France, with more than 1.5 million copies sold in France alone. 239 editions of the book have since been published worldwide, in 21 different languages. The book was first published in France by Robert Laffont in 1969, and first published in Great Britain by Rupert Hart-Davis in 1970, with an English translation by Patrick O'Brian. The book was adapted for a Hollywood film of the same name in 1973, starring Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman, as well as another in 2017, starring Charlie Hunnam and Rami Malek. Charrière also published a sequel to Papillon, called Banco, in 1973. Papillon has been described as "The greatest adventure story of all time" (Auguste Le Breton) and "A modern classic of courage and excitement" (Janet Flanner, The New Yorker). Autobiographical authenticity Although Charrière maintained, until his death in 1973, that events in the book were truthful (allowing for minor lapses in memory), questions have been raised about its accuracy. French journalist Gérard de Villiers, author of Papillon Épinglé (Butterfly Pinned), said "only about 10 per cent of Charrière's book represents the truth". Charrière reportedly had a reputation as a great storyteller, and critics have suggested that Papillon is more about a fictional character than the author. Charrière maintained his account was essentially true, and that he told the story to a professional writer who drafted it in final form. The publisher, Robert Laffont said the work was submitted to him as a novel. Laffont specialised in publishing true adventures, and he persuaded Charrière to release the book as an