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The bat guano trade, although a small, localised, and secondary enterprise was as significant for the nineteenth and early twentieth century Cape fertiliser trade as its more lucrative and prominent counterpart, the seabird guano trade. Located in relatively inaccessible and geographically dispersed caves on the Southern Cape coast and following a long struggle to be acknowledged as a useful fertiliser, the product became part of and contributed to the generation of continuous conflict between the colonial authorities, local farmers, and entrepreneurs about cheap guano. Aided by farmer-politicians, bona fide farmers and horticulturists continuously agitated for access to a cheap fertiliser while local businessmen with an interest in deriving some income from its exploitation fought for the right to free and unrestricted access to the resource. Resolution of this matter became far more difficult with the dawn of the Union of South Africa where the need to integrate new discoveries in Transvaal resulted in the need for a national policy and a central administration as well as common quality standards. Although relatively low-key and less dramatic, the battle for access to bat guano mirrored that of the seabird guano trade. This article attempts to properly contextualise this branch of the international guano trade and to describe the dynamic interaction between the conflicting parties around matters such as access, policy, and profit. In this regard, it explores and tries to make sense of both the mechanisms used and compromises concluded to ensure the workability of the system during the first two decades of the twenty-first century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following an environmental infertility crisis, guano fertilisation became an important part of Cape colonial agriculture in the nineteenth century. Collected from various offshore islands, guanopreneurs initially exported the product directly to its main markets in Europe and America. Because of a strong local demand for state-subsidised guano, a central storage facility for mixing and dispatch was established in Cape Town in 1890. In addition, a number of guano depots were established in the principal wheat-growing areas of the Colony. Because of guano’s obnoxious smell and the dust created by its mixing, it soon acquired status as an urban nuisance at a time that fear of miasmic diseases persisted. Urban dwellers with a heightened awareness of plagues and other infectious diseases also demanded the removal and closure of the various storage facilities. Farmers naturally resisted this call as contrary to their interests and forced the Cape government and legislature as the owners of the guano stores and the elected representatives of all citizens, to mediate. This article traces the discourse, compromises, convergence and resolution of the issues against the background of the struggle for a proper public health system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay focuses on some of the archeological discoveries at Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa. The first archeological excavations of the cave began when someone discovered bones and stone artefacts in the so-called guano that was from the cave. Archeologist Peter Beaumont and others worked at the site from the late 1970s onwards. The discoveries from this cave will change some aspects of the way that the Stone Age is understood. A description of the cave is presented.