210 Beanglehole & Lcarrrmnth, 77w* Byadnk Cfrtcjs [ Vni, 73 



cracks and fissures on the cave walls, where they will certainly never 

 be robbed or disturbed tor no apiarist could Tackle the job with 

 any thing less than a pneumatic drill. Tiger snakes are the chief, and 

 none too welcome, reptile residents, 



In many places on ledges of open caves wc found a pecnliar 

 hlack substance, hard and brittle^ but with handling it became sticky 

 and gave off a heavy inoffensive smell- Sometimes it was a loot 

 deep and covered a yard ot rock ledge, from which it could be 

 chipped off with a hammer At one stage of its history it had been 

 pliable and sofl. as the cavities of seoriaceous basalt were filled 

 with the material. It was invariably on the north-eastern walls of 

 a cave r exposed to sun and rain, and there was no evidenre. of 

 Lepage faun above or fall to a lower level. Samples were sent to 

 tht National Museum and replies received show thrift is still much 

 tu be learnt about this black substance. 



It was suggested first that blacks used the material, then that it 

 had came from above from injured tree-roots. Out observations 

 indicated that neither was thn explanation. On February 14, 1956, 

 Dr. A. \V, Beasley wrote: 



u Mr ( Willis advises thai he collected samples of the black immmy 

 material from Byaduk caves in July 1950. He has identified it as 

 altered bat [fnano Presumedly the vegetable diet of the bals accounts 

 in part for the pleasantly aruinatic odour of the material. Mr. Willis 

 has seen identical material in limestone caves on the Nullabor Plain. 

 Its occurrence there suggcbied that it oozed along fissures and 

 down walls at Tcduccd viscosity* in the presence ot water and 

 vegctahlr matter'' (This is not the case, at Byaduk ) "'The material 

 is described as almost black, moist and sticky where broken, rjfreji 

 with a smooth polished outside <.urtace. On drying >t hecomes much 

 harder and brittle.*' On April 23, came Dr. Beas1ey*s final letter; 

 "Mr, Nehois-S (Assistant Curator ot Insects) has identified i beetle 

 embedded in the black altered bafs dippings as Ptmus tectits, 

 and he has also iound a species (as yet unidentified) ot Hy- 

 inenoptera (anls). In his opinion the insects will not give a clue 

 to the age ot the black material/" 



One ot the writers ot this article found a small vein of similar 

 material in a cave on the north face ot Ayers Rock in October 

 1952 in this instance it was quite protected from weather So we 

 have three occurrences in widely separated localities and in tlifrcicnt 

 rock formations— basait (Byaduk), limestone (NuUabori, and 

 conglomerate (Aver* Rock). In all three there is nothing to 

 indicate what altered the bats" guano, or how long ago this change 

 look plane. Ai which lather unsatisfactory conclusion we must 

 leave the matter. 



(Wc arc indebted to (tie directors and staff of the National Herbarium and 

 Manorial Museum for irwtr kind assistance shrcughnut she preparation of 

 thu article.) 



