An Accent on English in Jamaica : Mandeville has a relaxed pace, glorious weather and the neatness and order of a small British town.

Leave it to those weather-conscious Brits to find a country’s most salubrious climate, and here in Jamaica, just as in India during the Raj era, establish “hill stations” to escape lowland heat and other vagaries of weather that might discomfort their colonials.

Mandeville, founded by the English in 1816, served as the perfect hill station for the Crown’s regiments. Set in the gently rolling farm country of south-central Jamaica at 2,000 feet, Mandeville is practically without seasons, with the temperature hovering between 70 and 80 degrees year-round, much cooler than the coastal flatlands.

While the popular north-coast resorts of Montego Bay, Ocho Rios and Port Antonio aren’t exactly hotbeds of urban activity, there’s an even slower pace and sense of tranquillity in Mandeville that reduces stress to near-zero level, making it the perfect place for a totally relaxing holiday.

“I sit here in the evening darkness,” a local hotelier told us, “surrounded by the quiet of miles of banana plantations, the moon seeming close enough to hold in the palm of my hand. And the only sound is the soothing song of banana leaves whispering softly in the balmy breezes.”

“It’s quite relaxing, you know,” she said, her voice a mix of proper British-English tinged with an island lilt.

Indeed, Mandeville is considered the most English town in all of Jamaica, known by some old-hand expatriates as their last resort. It has the neatness and order of a small British town: Georgian courthouse and stone parish church beside the village green (now an outdoor market); flowery cottage gardens in the handsome suburbs; the oldest golf course in the Caribbean; absolutely no slums, and the town’s oldest hotel was originally built as the English garrison’s officers’ quarters and mess.

Yet just a short drive from Mandeville brings one to the island’s south shore, not nearly so popular or pricey as the north shore but just as beautiful, and scheduled for major development in the future.

Getting settled in: Villa Bella, a 20-minute drive north of town, bills itself as Jamaica’s “original country inn,” and has also been called the “best little unknown hotel” on the island. We couldn’t agree more about this 50-year-old plantation house set on six acres of hilltop land festooned with orange, grapefruit and banana trees and coffee plants, plus gigantic flame-of-the-forest trees.

The villa’s 12 bedrooms are simple and homey yet charming and comfortable, with fresh flowers and modern baths in all of the rooms. There’s a wraparound veranda with views of surrounding hills, and the inn is noted for its Jamaican breakfasts, afternoon teas and fine dining room. They also organize barbecues in the countryside, with jerk pork and chicken, campfires and sing-alongs. We understand they’re great fun.

Mandeville Hotel is in a parklike area just steps from the town market and courthouse. Bedrooms have absolutely no frills but are comfortable enough, and there’s a small swimming pool, dining room and bar. The Mandeville is also noted for its fine breakfasts served beside the pool, and the authentic Jamaican food in the dining room.

The Inbercauld Great House, on the south coast at Black River, is a century-old home that has been a hotel only for the past few months. It’s loaded with antiques and some nice Oriental rugs, and the bedrooms are charming, with mahogany furniture, TV and air conditioning. All meals are served in the dining room of a building adjoining the main house. There are also tennis courts, a pool and a barbecue-bar area out back. The Inbercauld faces the sea, and the sunsets are daily spectacles.

There’s a network of B&Bs;, called “home stays,” many of them in very comfortable residential homes. They’re about $50 double with breakfasts.

On your own: Your best bet for a comprehensive look at the town and its attractions (various local mansions, the High Mountain coffee factory, bammy factory, craft center, gardens) is by checking in with Diana McIntyre-Pike, owner of the Astra Country Inn and Countrystyle Limited tours. The tour costs $10, but is free to Astra Hotel guests.

Outside town, take a ride along Bamboo Avenue, a 2 1/2-mile canopy of bamboo over the A2 road near Middle Quarters. Or join a Black River Safari Boat Tour ($15, half-price for children under 12) for a 90-minute look at remote tideland country, shrimpers in their dugout canoes, crocodiles and snowy egrets, ospreys and other exotic birds. Stately mangrove trees and some of the loveliest and most tranquil of riverside land along the route seems untouched since the days of Jamaica’s Arawak Indians before the arrival of Columbus.

Another outing will take one to the Black River’s Y.S. Falls, a 120-foot-high series of beautiful waterfalls. Board a tractor-drawn jitney ($9) for a ride through a working farm to the falls in a secluded gorge of the river valley. Take along a picnic lunch and bathing suit for a dip in the falls’ pools. Or just sit in a nearby treehouse with a cool Red Stripe and watch others cavort in the dancing waters.

Regional food and drink: Jerked pork and chicken (seasoned with blazing Jamaican peppers, allspice, cinnamon and other herbs, then roasted very, very slowly over pimento-wood coals) are popular all over Jamaica, but peppered shrimp are just as favored on this part of the island. You’ll find them sold in small sacks at roadside stands, but just make sure there’s a cold beer at hand before you dig into these fiery little nuggets.

A favorite Jamaican breakfast is ackee mixed with salt cod. Ackee is a rather bland, yellow-fleshed fruit that’s fried with onions and peppers, then mixed with shredded cod. It’s often served with callaloo (spinach-like greens), which also appears in a variety of soups and other island dishes. Just as ubiquitous is the beloved bammy, a muffin made from cassava-root flour, then flattened and fried.

White rum is the island’s ice breaker, served in an endless array of fruit punches in dining rooms and watering holes. And Red Stripe Jamaican beer goes well with the island’s spicy food.

Good local dining: Mandeville’s

Astra Hotel dining room (62 Ward Ave.) has the best Jamaican food in town. Dine inside beneath a colorful mural of Jamaican flowers and foliage, with brilliant anthuriums on each table, or beside the hotel pool on such as cream of callaloo or pumpkin soup, roast pork with guava sauce, rum chicken or the Astra special combination of jerk chicken, fried fish, ackee and cod, callaloo, fried plantain and bammy. Plan on about $10 for lunch or dinner, $7.50 for an ackee-codfish breakfast with all the fixings.

Bamboo Village Restaurant (35 Ward Ave.) is an upstairs place with an extensive Chinese menu ranging from two dozen soups and starters to more than 100 seafood, beef, pork, duck and rice dishes. The hot and sour soup with seafood ($2.50) was delicious, as was the roast duck with plum sauce ($8.25). Most soups, starters and main dishes are in this range. There’s not much in the way of decor at Bamboo Village, but the food is good, the service excellent, and it’s very popular with locals.

Villa Bella’s Nasturtium dining room carries the flower motif on its table settings, Jamaican art on the walls and candles on each table in the evening. A rather short menu offers eight main courses, the likes of which include chicken marengo, lobster fettucine, honey-glazed pork chop and a platter of Jamaican specialties. All of these are in the $8 range. Teatime at the Villa Bella gets very British, with cucumber sandwiches, scones, other cakes and cookies, and Major Grey’s tea. And the hotel bar mixes a mean Duppy Killer of gin, vodka, local rum and fruits, guaranteed to exorcise any duppies (ghosts) loitering about.

Look for the best peppered shrimp along the roadside near the village of Middle Quarters. There are lots of shrimp shacks, the best by local acclaim being Auntie’s. The shrimp are boiled over a fire on the shack’s dirt floor after the water has been laced with red peppers pulverized by hand in a pestle. Plan on half a pound of shrimp for two, about $3.25.

GUIDEBOOK

Matters in Mandeville

Getting there: American Airlines, Continental and Northwest fly from Los Angeles into Montego Bay, with stops. An advance-purchase, round-trip ticket will cost between $572 and $603. Sunburst Holidays, Apple Vacations and Island Flight Tours all have charter flights costing a bit less; they may be booked through a travel agent. From Montego Bay, either rent a car or take a taxi the 70 miles to Mandeville. A taxi costs about $80 for up to four persons. It’s very important to choose one with a red PP (Public Passenger) license plate, and always negotiate a price before leaving.

A few fast facts: Jamaica’s dollar recently sold at 23.7 to ours, making it worth about 4 cents. Put aside 200 Jamaican dollars for the airport departure tax, about $8.50 U.S.

Where to stay: Villa Bella (Box 473, Christiana, tel. 809-964-2243; $50 double); Mandeville Hotel (4 Hotel St., tel. 809-962-2138 or 809-962-2460; $55-$75 double); Inbercauld Great House (Box 12, Black River, tel. 809-965-2750; $50 double, $80 honeymoon suite); Astra Country Inn (62 Ward Ave., tel. 809-962-3265cq; $60-$75 double). B&B; home stays may also be booked through owner Diana McIntyre-Pike at the Astra.

For more information: Call the Jamaica Tourist Board at (213) 384-1123, or write (3440 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1207, Los Angeles 90010) for a general brochure on Jamaica, another on accommodations that includes Mandeville, plus a map of the island.