Lacking any organized defense, the Jamaican Spaniards fled and released their slaves who, in the west, sought refuge in the inhospitable hills of the Cockpit Country. Sovereign lands were ceded to them and they were given the freedom and autonomy that slaves in the New World did not acquire for another 100 years. Their descendants still live there and the Cockpit Country remains uncharted and impenetrable. This rugged terrain is characteristic of the Karst topography that defines the area.
Limestone is dissolved and removed by subsurface water resulting in underground caverns.
As the caverns develop, the water table is lowered and eventually the caverns collapse creating sinkholes that leave the land with the appearance of an inverted egg carton. No roads traverse the Cockpits and they are accessed from the surrounding Maroon settlements. In St. Elizabeth, the Cockpits are best explored from Accompong just north of Maggotty. The road there is narrow, winding and full of holes and the hills around are intensely cultivated. There is a two hour hike to see the Peace Cave where Cudjoe, their Ashanti leader, signed the treaty with the British.