Pre-Colombian Jamaica: Caribbean Archeology and Ethnohistory

248 / Appendix D.
ering the accounts Peter Martyr and Bernaldez give (Jour. Instit. Jam., Vol. II.,
No. i., p. 32) of the inhabitants all around the Bay called by Columbus “De las
Vacas,” and especially of the cacique and his party who there visited him, the
locality must have been thickly populated in aboriginal times, and many more
remains may still be obtained. Lately researches have been carried on with considerable
enthusiasm and success on the mainland around Old Harbour Bay,
particularly in the District of Vere.
District of Vere.
Several caves have been examined in this lower district of Clarendon by Mr. R. C.
MacCormack, from whose accounts we have the following details:
Three Sandy Bay Cave. This yielded a nearly perfect, oval- shaped vessel (Plate
V, Fig. 2), much resembling that obtained, with a skull inside, from Goat Island;
also other pottery indicating vessels of large dimensions. The portion of
a skull was also found associated with numerous limb and other bones, and
several conch shells. The entrance to the cave was partially concealed with
stones.
Another cave a mile or more from this place, and about a mile from the sea,
yielded small pieces of pottery and some large, thick, coarse fragments.
Jackson Bay Cave. This third cave contained the very perfect, flattened human
skull of some aged person, and fragments of another skull; along with numerous
limb and other bones, turtle bones, pottery, and shells. The cave is very
large, has two entrances, and is lofty in some parts.
All the objects from the three caves have been added to the Museum collections.
Pedro Bluff.
We have several notices of caves, containing human remains, in the southern
border of St. Elizabeth. They have long been known and from all accounts have
yielded in the past much important material, most of which has unfortunately
been lost or dispersed. They are referred to in Plummer’s “Geography and History
of Jamaica,” the author of which also informs me that he has seen numerous
skulls and vessels which had been removed in years gone by. In a previously
unpublished letter from Sir Arthur Rumbold to the Hon. Richard Hill,
now in the possession of Mr. L. Hutchings, is given the following descriptive
account of a visit to the Pedro Bluff Caves, made on February 25, 1855:
“The Bluff disappointed us. It does not tower above the sea as we expected;
its utmost altitude cannot exceed 60 feet. The blossom of the Coratoe (Agave
marrisii) was magnificent, the bright yellow flowers contrasting well with the
sombre hue of the vegetation. We ran close in to the beach on our return, and
laughed at Mr. Parchment’s hesitation. The pass hence to the cave is very rough.