Published by the Press, University of the West Indies. ISBN/ISSN 976 640 0369.
Hardback and softback editions, 450pp, 300 line drawings, 45 colour photographs. Price £35 softback, £55 hardback
[A Review by: The
British Cave Research Association -
"Caves & Caving", Winter issue, 1998.
p.11.]
There is
little doubt that this is the work of a lifetime - well, the second
work of a lifetime; Fincham had already compiled the first Jamaica
Underground published in 1977.
I never saw that particular issue but the thoroughness of this new edition is entirely impressive.
This is not so much a guide book as a compendium of everything to do with caves in Jamaica and, as the title of the lengthiest chapter suggests, it is a register of all the sites of speleological interest on the island. Of these there are many, listed in alphabetical order with parish location and grid reference, entrance, altitude, length, depth, outline passage description and other guide book norms.
Unlike most guides, however, a higher proportion of sites are accompanied by surveys, useful references and interestingly, and enliveningly, anecdotes from original exploration accounts. It all makes for absorbing and compelling reading of what might easily have been a rather laboured work.
The register by itself is a wonder to behold, but this book is really made by the inclusion of complementary chapters covering the history and evolution of speleology in Jamaica, its geology and geomorphology, karst hydrology, paleontology, cave vertebrates and invertebrates and an interesting section dealing with Histoplasmosis - easily contracted but of minimal risk if the proper precautions are taken.
Topping all this out is a bibliography containing 536 references and appendices listing the longest and deepest caves, their distribution by parish, cartography of the caves and a glossary of caving and karst terms. Enticing drainage maps accompany the main body of the text giving some clue to the potential that still exists in key drainage basins of the island.
Such a major work could hardly have been assembled by one person alone and Fincham pays due to contributors Grenville Draper, Donald McFarlane, Ross McPhee, Stewart Peck, Ronald Read, Trevor Shaw, Geoffrey Wadge and dedicates the work to Mike Ashcroft without whose initial support and continued encouragement thework would not have come to fruition.
If there are any gripes it is only that perhaps there are not enough photographs of the landscape in which all these caves are set, the famous "cockpit" country for which the island is renowned. Some of the colour photographs also show their age and origin. And I know it would have been too much to ask for a "Beginners Guide" to the island to have been included, directing them to classic and accessible trips. But after half an hour with this book you want to go there!
A class book in the five star tradition that the sixties Leeds cavers set themselves and a tribute to the painstaking dedication of its author and his co-contributors. About the same size and weight as a modern laptop computer but a darn sight more interesting - and you can drop it with impunity. Absolutely recommended for the serious collector.
Hugh St Lawrence
Contact: The Press, University of the West Indies, 1A Aqueduct Flats, Mona, Kingston 7, Jamaica, WI. Tel (876) 977-2659; Fax (876) 977-2660; email salex@uwimona.edu.jm; web: http://isis.uwimona.edu.jm/press/