Although it's St Elizabeth's largest town, BLACK RIVER is a quiet spot, and most travellers only nip in briefly to take a boat trip on the river. It wasn't always this way: in the mid-nineteenth century the town derived substantial wealth from exporting logwood , used to produce black and dark-blue dyes for the textiles industry. For a brief period the town was one of the most influential in Jamaica. But the introduction of synthetic dyes meant the end for the logwood trade, and today the only signs of those illustrious days are some wonderful but decrepit old gingerbread houses. Buses and minibuses stop behind the market, just off the High Street. Five minutes' walk away, the Jamaica Tourist Board (Mon-Fri 9.30am-4.30pm; tel 876/965-2074) has a small office on the upper floor of the Hendrick's building, 2 High St.

The nicest thing to do in Black River is to stroll along the waterfront and check out the old wooden buildings, many with gorgeous colonnaded verandahs and gingerbread trim and most in a perilous state of collapse. The Waterloo Guesthouse , built in 1819, is reputed to have been the first place in Jamaica to get electricity - installed to provide air conditioning for racehorses kept in the old stables - and to have boasted the island's first telephone. Nearby, the gleaming white Invercauld Hotel , built in 1889, reflects the confidence of the town during its heyday.

The main reason most people come to the town, however, is to take a boat safari on the Black River , which, at 44 miles, is Jamaica's longest. So named because the peat moss lining the river bottom makes the crystal-clear water appear inky black, the Black River is the main source for the Great Morass - a 125-square-mile area of wetland that spreads north and west of the river and provides a swampy home for most of Jamaica's surviving crocodiles as well as some diverse and spectacular birdlife. The boat tour is a very pretty trip into the Great Morass, although the term "safari" promises rather more excitement than it delivers. You are almost sure to see crocodiles (albeit fairly tame ones), and there are some marvellous mangrove swamps where you can normally spot flocks of roosting egrets as well as whistling ducks, herons and jacanas. To go on the ninety-minute tour (5 daily; US$15 per person), turn up at the dock by the bridge or contact St Elizabeth River Safari (tel 876/965-2374) or Black River Safari Boat Tours (tel 876/965-2513).