of "tough guys": "Lulu", "Gispy", "Jojo" (Gipsy's companion), "Le Basque", as well as three other convicts. But, the next morning, the canoe used by the escapees was deflected by the wind towards the Dutch coast. Following this, "Le Basque" (one of the escapees), calling himself "connaisseur", convinced the group to tie cords to the canoe. But the rope broke following three blows of the waves, thus carrying away the provisions. The rest of the troupe, being furious, "Le Basque" was stabbed in the heart on the order of "Lulu". A few days later, after a long journey, "Gipsy" killed "Jojo" with a saber in order to rob him. Following the discovery of "Jojo's" body by the other escapees, "Lulu" stabbed "Gipsy" and disembowelled him, before the five surviving members eat him. The next day, the troop resumed their march towards Dutch Guiana, before being surrounded by Indians, bringing the band back to the Bagne de Cayenne. Belbenoît sees his sentence increased by six months, while the others take an additional year. Belbenoît, participant throughout the escape, will admit in his book that he "was no longer himself", due to several days of escapade, starvation and journey. Following his return to Bagne de Cayenne, René Belbenoît signed a petition to protest against the conditions of detention. The revolts of Belbenoît annoying the administration of the Bagne, led to his being placed under the surveillance of the policemen of the Bagne de Cayenne, in 1925 and 1926, but nevertheless aroused a lively debate among journalists on the subject. In July and August 1927, a British journalist, having interviewed Belbenoît, published press articles on the daily life of the convicts of Cayenne. Following this, Belbenoît, aged 28, attempted two new escapes, but these did not succeed and he saw his sentence increased by thirteen months from his conviction; 9 years and one month of forced labor instead of the 8 years of forced labor to which he had been sentenced. Release and recidive René Belbenoît was released from the Bagne de Cayenne on September 21, 1930, after serving his 9 years in prison. Before Siadous was transferred back to France, he gave Belbenoît a one-year permit to leave the penal colony. Belbenoît spent most of this year working in the Panama Canal Zone as a gardener. However, with the one year permit soon to expire he decided to go back to France in