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Circle St. Elizabeth
Excerpted from the book, Tour Jamaica, by Margaret Morris

From Mandeville there is a choice of routes to the beaches of the south coast:

ROUTE A - VIA NEWPORT TO ALLIGATOR POND

Take the road past the West Indies Training College and through the village of KNOCKPATRICK. You will drive beneath Alpart's cable belt conveyor connecting the bauxite mines of the Manchester plateau to the lowland plant at Nain. Newport is a cool rural village. Between ROSEHALL and REST STORE you get the first glimpse of the sea and Alpart's pier at PORT KAISER. If the day is clear you can observe offshore and to the south east a coral atoll in the making on Alligator Reef. PLOWDEN with its Moravian church, school, and bauxite-pink landscape is typical of the area. Descending towards Rowes Corner via many hairpin curves, the landscape has a surreal quality with monstrous towers and outcrops of rock dwarfing cottages and cultivations.

Alligator Pond has a large fishing beach, well equipped with modern fibreglass boats plus high powered outboard engines. A good place to sample fried fish straight from the ocean or purchase fresh fish and lobster. Some boats are available for hire, price negotiable. Interesting Detour: Turn left at the Alligator Pond crossroads passing several holiday cottages and landmarks with evocative names like CUCKOLD POINT, OLD WOMAN'S POINT, GUT RIVER, CANOE VALLEY, ALLIGATOR HOLE RIVER and GOD'S WELL.

These coastal waters are the preferred habitat of manatees (local name: sea cows) which come to drink the fresh water bubbling into the sea from underground springs. In Arawak times there were large manatee herds but the current islandwide population is estimated as less than 100. They are protected under the Wild Life Protection Act, but that does not stop some fishermen from killing those snared in their nets. Four manatees, rescued from fishermen are kept in captivity in the Alligator Hole river. Unfortunately, because they are all female there is no hope of a captive breeding program. Mournful-looking sea mammals, manatees may have given rise to legends about mermaids. They are extremely gentle and shy, feed on sea grasses and can grow to be 13 foot in length and 3,300 lbs in weight.

West of Alligator Pond crossing, a clear cold river enters the sea near the site of an old fort. At its mouth, Sea River resort, a 12 room hotel, belongs to the local member of parliament Derek Rochester. Further west is Alpart's Port Kaiser. Alumina, transported by private railroad from the Alpart refinery, is shipped from here.

Despite the scanty rainfall, south St. Elizabeth supplies most of the vegetables (carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, melons, escallion, thyme, onions) sold throughout the island. The traditional thrift, industry and ingenuity of the farmers here are reflected in the small, sturdy houses dotting the hills, and the patchwork of fields neatly mulched with guinea grass - a local technique known as "dry farming". Many of the people hereabouts are light-skinned, some with blue or green eyes and are known locally as "St. Elizabeth Red Man". Theories about their origin differ. One is that their male ancestors were the crew of a Dutch ship wrecked off the coast long ago. Another that the local white planters were exceptionally libidinous and prolific.

It is farming country all the way through BULL SAVANNAH, JUNCTION, and TOP HILL where there is a monument to two children shot in a 1970s political campaign. Erected by the JLP, it is a grisly reminder of things better left unsaid in a tour book. SOUTHFIELD, where both routes converge, is a large and prosperous village.