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Jeffrey’s Cave FIELD TRIP

At Spittal Pond, this small cavern open to the sea, and accessible from above, is Jeffrey’s Cave at
called ‘Jeffrey’s Cave’. The name derives from a slave who escaped from his Spittal Pond
master and hid here for several weeks. The search was abandoned when it was
believed he had escaped from Bermuda on a sailing ship. However, the master began Visit Jeffrey’s Cave at Spittal Pond
to notice the mysterious behaviour of one of his female slaves who disappeared and sit quietly by the cave. Read
daily at sunset, always carrying a small package. He followed her through the the story of Jeffrey from the book,
woods to the cave in which they found the well-concealed Jeffrey. I Wish I Could Tell You, by Lyn Joseph.

Many slaves tried to run away from their masters. Rewards offered ran from $20
for a runaway mason to $2 for a boy. In spite of offers of rewards, slaves often Ask the students what Jeffrey
helped their fellow slaves to hide and run away. might have hoped for. Was he
hoping to escape on a sailing
This site is part of the African Diaspora Heritage Trail Bermuda and an officially ship? Was he able to swim?
designated site under the transnational UNESCO Slave Route Project.
How else could he have made
it to a ship?

Show students how to weave
with Palmetto leaves. Jeffrey could
have made a basket to catch fish
on calm days.

VOCABULARY
• Enslavement
• Cave
• Palmetto
• Stealth
• Limestone
• Hope
• Love
• Fear
• Loyalty
• Desperation

Jeffrey’s Cave, 2016
By John Burgoyne
Ink and watercolour on paper

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