THE ROLE OF KARST HYDROLOGY IN THE 17th CENTURY MAROON WARS IN THE COCKPIT COUNTRY, JAMAICA
Surface drainage is uncommon in the Cockpit Country, although there are numerous peripheral sinking streams where allogenic drainage from the central inlier meets the limestone along its southern boundary, and there are springs, some perennial, others intermittent or ephemeral, where subsurface drainage reappears, particularly along the northern periphery. Reflecting the karst hydrology within the Cockpit Country, the Maroons established a base at Pettee Bottom, with access to one of the few water sources within the interior karst. Pettee River Bottom is a particularly defensible although rather atypical karst depression near the western margin of the Cockpit Country and not more than 4km distant, as the crow flies, from the British military base at Vaughansfield. The term “Bottom” in the Cockpit Country generally denotes a glade – an elongated although enclosed karst depression with at least a partially alluviated floor and with seasonal, if not perennial surface water - and such is Pettee River Bottom. About 1.5km in length, but for much of that less than 100m in width, the Bottom has a perennial water source, is flanked by rugged ridges and hills, which provide convenient lookout points, and is accessible only via narrow corridors at the southern and northwestern ends.
By contrast, colonial forces established bases around the periphery, particularly where springs and allogenic rivers provided perennial water supplies. British efforts to engage and subdue their antagonists were largely unsuccessful, and in response they adopted a strategy of attrition and containment, bombarding the Maroon base to displace the insurgents from their internal water supplies and establishing a “cordon sanitaire” around the Cockpit Country periphery in order to limit Maroon access to peripheral water supplies.