214 BARKER, Conference and Camp [ Th j a n. mu 
thirty miles — a sufficient commentary on the state of the roads. 
We regretted to learn that at one spot on the road a capsize was 
narrowly averted purely by good luck. However, lunch was 
ready for them, and this, coupled with delight over the elaborate 
camping arrangements, soon restored everyone’s equanimity. 
Amid much noise and some banter, positions were selected, and 
in the men’s section bunks were soon littered with camp gear. 
The ladies received an invitation to tea at Mrs. Ganter’s farm, 
which they accepted. 
Those male members who had early settled down started out 
on their rambles at once, and at dusk most of us crossed the 
creek to Mr. Ganter’s clearing to watch the flying foxes leaving 
their Byfield camp for their night’s foraging. This was the 
most remarkable sight of the trip. For over half an hour a 
veritable cloud spread out over the country to the north in the 
direction of Shoalwater Bay, and lesser lots moved out to the 
east and south. It is quite safe to speak of them in millions, and 
when we visited the camp (or part of it, as it extends over 20 
acres), we quite agreed with this guess at their numbers. We 
were told that they were honeybats feeding on the blossom of 
the native trees only, and rarely touching fruit at all. This is 
supported by the fact that there is practically no smell in the 
camp and no sign of droppings, but the noise of their quarrelling 
is indescribable, and when we raised numbers of them on the 
wing, the sound was that of fierce rushing winds. 
On Friday morning, at 4.30, some of the party, including Miss 
Geissmann, loaded into Mr. Mortensen’s motor lorry and set off 
to the scrub on Polka Creek to hear the early morning concert 
of the birds there. We got as far as the Trebone Brothers’ 
banana farm, and were regaled with morning tea by these 
respected and hard-working Maltese settlers. Here we heard 
the Scrub-fowl, and later were shown its egg mound, which was 
of considerable size and was photographed for the Emu. In the 
afternoon short rambles along the neighbouring creeks were made 
and numbers of photographs taken. On two evenings short 
sessions of the Conference were held—on Thursday night busi¬ 
ness was finalised by votes of thanks to all individuals and bodies 
who had contributed to the success of the camp in one form or 
another. 
On Saturday night a lantern lecture for the benefit of the 
Byfield folk was arranged. It had been intended to hold this as 
an outdoor function, but a thunderstorm in the late afternoon 
changed these plans and the men’s dormitory was pressed into 
service. A sheet was hung at one end, and the bunks made 
excellent seats. Mr. Chaffer ran through a number of slides and 
gave an excellent talk on the pictures shown. Mr. Alexander 
acted as chairman, and Mr. Barker as lanternist, the only hitch 
occurring when the generator refused to act and had to be 
recharged with acetylene. The wait was bridged by Mr. A. H. 
