These four (4) mineral spas were discovered at different times in the history of the country, and each has varying amount of minerals.

The mineral spa or spring at Bath in the parish of St. Thomas was discovered by a run-a-way slave in the 1690s. When he discovered that the water of the mineral spring had healed the wounds that had plagued him for years, he decided to brave the wrath of his master to tell him the good news.

The mineral spring at Bath flows from two (2) rocks, which produces both cold and hot water. The water is mixed before it enters the bathhouses, which are built for guests.

The water in the spring is not mixed and so it is very hot. The spring is rich in sulphur and lime and is believed to be very good for the treatment of rheumatic ailments and skin diseases.

Milk River Bath is another of Jamaica's great spas. The radioactivity of the water is many times greater than many of the world's famous spas. The relative radioactivity of the water has been found to be:

Black River Spa located in Black River, St. Elizabeth was one of the more popular spas in the island up until the 1930s. The cold spring which is rich in sulphur and other minerals is believed to have healing properties. It is believed to have cured many ailments. Unfortunately this gift of nature has deteriorated substantially. However, it is a viable business investment option.

The origins of the Rock Fort Spa is uncertain, but is believed to have appeared miraculously following the 1907 earthquake. The water which is very radioactive, is piped from a cold spring in the surrounding hills.

Each cave has a large sink hole, which contains fresh water. It is possible that these reservoirs served as sources of fresh water for the Tainos. This natural cavern and the tunnel beneath are interconnected with many other caverns and tunnels over this whole limestone area which extends for miles in all directions.

The cave contains a petroglyph carving of a face which is about seven hundred years old. Based on the fact that the Tainos drew effigies of themselves and their gods as a sign of their respect for their gods and that the caves contain no evidence of being the homes of any Tainos, it is believed that they were mainly used for ceremonial purposes.

Mountain River Cave is hidden in the lime stone cliff in Macka Tree district a few miles beyond Guanaboa Vale, St. Catherine.

Inside this cave are the earliest Jamaican paintings. An Indian Artist using black pigment created a group of pictographs on the flat underside of the cave's roof. The exact age is unknown, but it probably dates back to some 500-1300 years ago.

The painter depicted in black, silhouette birds, turtles, lizards, fish, frogs, humans and some abstract patterns (not yet deciphered).

The site was first reported in 1897 by J.F. Duerden. In 1976, the site was acquired by the Archaeological Society and was developed with the assistance of Alpart, Scotia Bank, Alcan, Alpart Farms, Berger and other individual contributions. The Jamaican Defence Force assisted, by designing and installing a protection grill.

Access to the cave is by a footpath about a mile long. The track to the cave requires sturdy shoes or boots with firm grip. The track descends steeply to cross the mountain river and through agricultural crops, with birds nesting above.

REMEMBER THE scene from the 1973 James Bond movie, 'Live and Let Die' where Roger Moore emerges from the murky depths of some awful pool in a submarine?

Arguably the best caves in Jamaica, the Green Grotto caves (Discovery Bay, St. Ann) is full of great rock formations, animal and plant life, romance and history.

A tour of the caves is 45 minutes of sheer magic, plus it comes with a complimentary fruit punch at the end to help you digest all you have just experienced.

The caves feature a series of interconnected passageways, chambers, light holes and stalactites and stalagmites, and a small 'grotto' lake at the innermost cavern.

The tour begins at a concreted area with a stage and DJ booth which was a part of the Pirate's Hideaway, a nightclub started by one of the original owners. The club, however, impeded the growth of several limestone formations in the area.

Still, there's much to see, like 10,000- year-old rock pillars, deep sinkholes (one of which is called Hell's Hole and could swallow a human body easily), guano lakes, curious formations and bats. Lots of them.

"The bats cluster together to keep the young ones warm and also for protection. They believe that a predator who wants to attack them might be scared if they see them as one collective body," Phillip Lynch, tour guide said. The bats look like a roiling mass of vermin and disease.

Some of the most notable ones include the Virgin Mary, the Limbo drum (a free flow limestone formation), one which has the chiselled features of a Caucasian male (dubbed the Spanish Man's Ghost) and an empty space that resembles an 18th century crude map of the island.

"The fruit-eating bats bring seedlings back to the cave, and they fall to the earth, and begin to grow. However, they die after a time because of the lack of sunlight," the guide said.

The only vegetation that seems to thrive are the roots of the Banyan fig trees which criss-cross the three-quarter mile stretch that comprises the tour.

Eventually, we descended 63 steps to the a small grotto 120 feet to the level of the sea. The waters of the grotto are clear, and the lights from flashlights pick out tiny fish.

"Normally, the fish would take cover when they feel the vibrations coming down the steps, but not today, I guess. We used to allow tourists to swim in the grotto but the guano has bacteria in it that could lead to histoplasmosis which creates symptoms similar to an asthma attack," another tour guide Alton Scarlett explains. The cavern is deadly quiet, the only noises being the click of the camera and dripping water. "This is the area where the submarine scene from 'Live and Let Die' was filmed," Mr. Scarlett explained.

There are several other grottoes in the caves which reportedly cover about seven miles. One is reportedly as large as a football field, and is 27 feet deep, while another dubbed the 'Wishing Well Lake' is 75 feet deep. The water in the grotto is brackish a combination of fresh and salt water. The nearby Pear Tree River also runs through the network of caves.

THE MINUTE Lifestyle pulled into the empty car park at Appleton Estates in the Nassau Valley of St. Elizabeth, we knew that things had gone terribly wrong. It was just before 4 in the afternoon and the rain was getting ready to water the 11,000 acres of lush sugar cane -- as it does in this part of the island almost every day.

We were coming from Accompong and after about a 20-minute drive, had made our way past a part of the sugar factory and were soon driving through a section of the cane field. We were flanked by thousands of rows of waving sugar cane, awakening images of our enslaved forefathers who had lived and died bitter lives on estates like this. That memory whetted our appetite for the Appleton Estate tour which was supposed to take us on a journey through time.

Time was posing a big problem for us today. When we arrived we were told that we had missed, not just our tour, but all tours for that day (and there had been many). We were definitely in a bind, but the staff at Appleton Estates organised a personal tour for our team. (It's not the norm though, so don't expect the same if you are late for your tour).

Our first stop was the Lounge where a short video gave us information about the history of Appleton Jamaica Rum and showed us how the rum is processed, aged, blended and packaged.

The Wray and Nephew story began in 1825 when John Wray -- the father of Jamaican rum -- opened a tavern in Kingston. He experimented with blending rums and other liqueurs and spirits. In 1860 John Wray took his n0ephew, Colonel Charles James Ward, as a partner in his business, creating J Wray and Nephew. As early as 1862, Wray and Nephew rums had become world famous, winning awards and prizes.

By the time Colonel Ward died in 1913, the company had acquired Carlisle, Greenwich and Monymusk estates and was distributing a number of well known brands.

On the first leg of our tour we were taken back to the 1820s. Paz, the resident donkey demonstrated how sugar was extracted from cane using a donkey mill. We also saw artifacts on display like a hand mill, copper pans used for boiling the juice, and the tools that the Coopers used to make the barrel.

Visitors also get a chance to squeeze and taste the juice from sugar cane. By the time we had gotten to the John Wray Tavern at the end of the tour there was still a lot more to taste. There are about 18 products including rums, rum creams and liqueurs that visitors are allowed to taste, and tour guide Wayne Bowen admitted that all that tasting can take its toll.

"Oh, I've just been tasting everything," said Marlene George who visited Appleton Estate the day after we were there. George, a tourist from Huddersfield, England, told us in a telephone conversation that "there are quite a few things I tasted that I've never ever seen or heard of."

The tour caters mainly for adults but children are allowed. However, they cannot indulge in the tasting sessions. Still, not to worry, said 16-year-old Kristy, also from Huddersfield, England, "I tasted the juice from the sugar cane." The most interesting thing about the trip, she said, was finding out how rum is made.

Once the cane is harvested it is washed, chopped, (if harvested by hand) and milled to extract the juice. The juice is boiled to make syrup and the fibre left behind is used as fuel for the factory's boilers. The syrup from the sugar cane is clarified and mixed with sugar crystals to make sugar and molasses. It is the molasses -- a by-product of sugar production, which is the main ingredient in producing rum. Distillation is the next step in the process.

The distiller at Appleton can produce various types of rum, depending on the "wash" -- which is the molasses, spring water and yeast -- used. The wash is distilled using the "small -- batch copper pot distillation method" and the Column or Continuous Distillation method. At the beginning of the distillation process the "wash" has about 8 per cent alcohol but by the end of the process the rum collected has between 80 and 90 per cent alcohol. This rum is placed in 40-gallon oak barrels and stays there for at least three years. However, sipping rums can sit in the warehouse and age for up to 40 years.

Blending is next. Chief Blender Joy Spence uses different types and styles of rum, plus the company's secret formula to blend the rum to the desired taste. The blend is placed in a large vat for a year to allow the different rums, that have been blended, to "marry." Subsequent to this, the products are bottled and packaged.

The tour usually includes the distillery and warehouse but the Lifestyle team missed this section. However, said, Wayne Bowen who has been conducting tours for four years, "when people walk into the warehouse they are always fascinated by our ageing process.

"Our largest warehouse has about 30,000 barrels, and when they walk in they are like, 'gosh, all this rum?' They are just always in awe." Touring groups are also surprised to know that the temperature in the warehouse (between 20 and 25 degrees Celsius) is caused by a portion of the rum which evaporates and is known as "the angel's share."

How to get there: It takes about three hours from Kingston to Appleton. Take the Old Harbour bypass and the main road into to St. Elizabeth. Drive through Santa Cruz. When you get to Lacovia, turn right at the gas station. Follow the signs through Newton and Maggotty until you get to a sign pointing to the Appleton Estates

* Visitors to this historical site are encouraged to contact the Jamaica National Heritage Trust at 79 Duke Street, Kingston for "guided tours".