Biet Antoine

Biet Antoine a French missionary, was born in the diocese of Senlis about 1620. He embarked for Cayenne in 1652, with six hundred colonists, sent out by a company who had obtained of the government the cession of that isle. The enterprise did not succeed; most of the colonists perished from famine and sickness, and Biet devoted himself to the alleviation of their sufferings with heroic devotion. On his return to France he published the Voyage de la France Equinoxiale, or, L'Ile de Cayenne, entrepris par les Franqois en 1652 (Paris, 1664). This work is terminated by a Dictionnaire de la Langue Galibi. His work concerning the West Indies is not considered trustworthy, as his stay there was very brief; this work has been refuted by P. Dutertre. See Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Generale, s.v.