M tfcuteo PiM tfmnttists C!ul> [ V vm.« 1 * 



tdvrrtiser, is to publish a weekly column of nature uote.s, including illus- 

 trations, provided by the Club. 

 Their forthcoming activities arc aa follows I 



MEETINGS (at the School of Mines) r 



April 10— 'Lecture on Geology (Mr. "Robbing. 

 May I — CommiUee Meeting. 

 May 8 — Lecture o»i Birds (Mr. Ipson). 

 June 12 — To be arranged. 



EXCURSIONS: 



March 24 — Redesdale (Basaltic Column*). 



April 14 — Hcathcotc (Geology). 



May 12— Koala Sanctuary at Casttemamc (Gktreftkl/i 



June 15— Whipsticfc (Wattles). 



THE BYADUK CAVES 



By A. C. Beaugliliiolk- and K F. LiiARMO'NTK 



North Byaduk and Byaduk arc scattered settlements len arid 

 fnurtem miles respectively south til Hamilton on the Port Fairy 

 mad. The caves, though only two miles east at this road at North 

 Byadnk,. are seldom visited, and few local residents know much 

 about them. However, where there are raves there arc usually 

 ferns and mosses, so during the summer of 1955-56 several mem- 

 bers of the Portland Field Naturalists Club made four trips and 

 thoroughly examined each cave. We were greatly assisted by Mr. - 

 Tom Power, of Byaduk, who acted as our guide throughout 



A full geographical description of the area is given by Skeats 

 and fames in Pmc. Roy, Soc. Vict, 49: 245 (1937), but tor our 

 purpose only a few remarks are necessary so that the "layout" will 

 lie understood. When lava overflowed from Mount Napier (eight 

 miles cast) it swept down three river valleys, of which we deal 

 with that at North Byaduk. In' the first of the she lava flows, sec- 

 tions of the river were imprisoned and the water in places turned 

 to steam ; this raised bubbles up to sixty Sect high in the viscid 

 lava. Round these mounds later flows settled until the final one 

 passed over the top. The weight of this was too much and the tops 

 fell in, leaving The caves we have today. Some are open for up to 

 200 yards and are floored with a confusion of tremendous boulders 

 covered with a tangle of ferns and vicious Scrub Nettles {Urtica 

 mcisn}, making progress anything hut easy. Other caves are pre- 

 cipitous circular holes, descent of which requires ropes; and at the 

 bottom of all are underground caves some of which are vast caverns 

 in which an*ordinary cottage would be dwarfed. The photographs 

 give an idea of each type. 



it appears that Skeats and James descended a few of the eaves, 

 ■fcg that J. H. Willis's inspection in 1950 was a very hurried one, 

 which explains the several new finds made by us in the wake of 

 these experienced naturalists. 



