The Sad Robinson Crusoes of Hen & Chickens

In between St. Maarten / St. Martin and St. Barths, there is a variety of rocky, uninhabited islands, many of which have a special history.

Hen & Chickens, a rocky formation emerging from the sea and also known as the “Five Islands,” is one of those. Nowadays, the islets are not just difficult to reach; visiting them is actively discouraged. Today they form part of a St. Maarten Key Biodiversity Area, proposed for listing under UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme.

Its current inhabitants are, if protection succeeds according to plan, Laughing Gulls, Brown Pelicans, and Bridled Terns. The seagrass beds off the islands host an even wider variety of protected species.

Hen, the largest of this group of rocks, was once inhabited. To be exact, from 1764 to 1780. It was a colony of the banished, but not in the fashion that Heineken kidnappers Cor van Hout and Willem Holleeder would later be temporarily exiled to Tintamarre. In this case, it concerned true lepers.

Around 1764, a leper institution was built here. In line with international traditions, leprosy patients tended to be exiled from populated areas to avoid the spread of the disease.

Exile to Hen Island, amidst the ocean, in the hot sun and without water, must not have been easy given the already poor physical condition of the patients. Add to that the fact that at the time not all those considered lepers truly were, as the illness was not yet understood.

The institution only functioned for 16 years. Its inhabitants were moved to Île des Saintes near Guadeloupe. Leprosy unfortunately continued to occur. A new center was built in Pointe Blanche on St. Maarten in the early 19th century, and in 1869 there were still 16 cases. In 1902, the institution was closed.

For Hen, peace and nature returned. Remnants of the small institute were still visible up until the Second World War, as Dr. A. van der Sar wrote in an article about leprosy in the Dutch Caribbean in 1944. It is probable that stones are still to be found, but it is now preferable to leave this shelter for endangered species untouched.

If you are fascinated by stories about small island hermits, see the stories about the Heineken kidnapping on Tintamarre, the solitary inhabitants of Île Fourchue, or the shipwreck of Captain Pinel.