Plantations, Peaks & a Hermitage--There's an interesting Arawak
cave at Columbus Point on the southern tip of the island. In addition,
you can see the ruins of many once-flourishing plantations. Some old
stone mounds are nearly 200 years old. Early planters, many of them
Loyalists, marked their plantation boundaries with these mounds. These
include the Deveaux Mansion, built by Col. Andrew Deveaux of the fledgling
U.S. Navy, who recaptured Nassau from the Spanish in 1783. The plantation's
heyday was during the island's short-lived cotton boom. Yet another
mansion, Armbrister Plantation, lies in ruins near Port Howe.
You can hike along the natural paths through native villages and past exotic plants. Finally, you reach the peak of Mount Alvernia, the highest point in The Bahamas, at 62m (206 ft.) above sea level, where you will be rewarded with a spectacular view. The mount is capped by the Hermitage, a religious retreat built entirely by hand by the late Father Jerome, the former "father confessor" of the island, who was once a mule skinner in Canada. Curiously, the building was scaled to fit his short stature (he was a very, very short man). Formerly an Anglican, this Roman Catholic hermit priest became a legend on Cat Island. He died in 1956 at the age of 80, but his memory is kept very much alive here.
