The Montagne d'Argent or Monte Prata (meaning ''silver mountain'') is a hill in northeast

French Guiana French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...

, next to

Pointe Béhague The Pointe Béhague or Pointe Coumarouman or even Ponta de Cumarumã (in Portuguese) is a cape in north-east French Guiana, lying between the mouths of Approuague and Oiapoque rivers. It is located in the commune of Ouanary References See als ...

, on the estuary of the

Oyapock River The Oyapock or Oiapoque ( ; ; ) is a long river in South America that forms most of the border between the French overseas department of French Guiana and the Brazilian state of Amapá. Course The Oyapock runs through the Guianan moist for ...

. In 1998, the mountain is protected by

Conservatoire du littoral The ''Conservatoire du littoral'' ("Coastal protection agency") (official name: ''Conservatoire de l'espace littoral et des rivages lacustres'') is a French public organisation created in 1975 to ensure the protection of outstanding natural areas o ...

, because 22

petroglyph A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

s had been discovered in the mountain. The hill rises to a height of . In 1852, a

penal colony A penal colony or exile colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory. Although the term can be used to refer ...

was established on a former coffee plantation, and was the first agricultural penal colony. The colony was finally closed in 1910, and was an economic failure with many prisoners dying or becoming ill.

References

Defunct prisons in French Guiana Mountains of French Guiana Petroglyphs in South America Protected areas of French Guiana {{SouthAm-mountain-stub