CAT CAVE (aa -)
25.176700,92.361900
Description
An up to 20 m wide, south-east facing cave entrance gives access to »a 20 m wide entrance chamber [note 1] with three potholes in the floor« (Boycott & Sandford 1999.02.06 Mss: Krem Plat). It is difficult to reconstruct why Jarratt (1999.02.05 Mss: Cave Log, vol. 7) described this as »three large entrances leading into a roomy chamber with a climb down into a streamway going in both directions« (note 2). ETYMOLOGY: No autochthonous, indigenous or locally known name has been identified for this cave, which may have meant to be a »Civet Cave« (Krem Bshad) or »Mongoose Cave« (Krem Phyllad) but suffered being christened as a "Krem Plat" (note 3) when »… the cave smelled of cats -- apparently a small animal and not a tiger. This would be a wild cat or lynx [note 4] so we gave this name [Krem Plat] to the cave« (Jarratt 1999.02.05 Mss: Cave Log, vol. 7). SITUATION: The entrance to the so-called "Cat Cave" was »situated [in February 1999] below a small coal mine« and at an estimated walking distance 1 km along a track from Lumshnong towards Umlong (note 5). APPROACH: After a an unidentified river (possibly the resurgence of the cave) is crossed, the track curves west and uphill for 150 m to a cliff on a self-centred person's right, with a coal mine near the top, which marks the cave site in jungle. CAVE DESCRIPTION 1999a: »Situated below a small coal mine this cave has three large entrances leading into a roomy chamber with a climb down into a streamway going in both directions« (Jarratt 1999.02.05 Mss: Cave Log, vol. 7). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1999b: An estimated 20 m wide cave entrance gives access to a cave chamber with three potholes in the floor. A certain Left Hand Pot is blind while one Middle Pot (6 m ladder, maybe free climbable with care) drops across rubble to a boulder slope which descends to a stream. The Upstream has a bedding chamber with phreatic tubes in the roof and leads to a duck ending after 20 m in a sump. The Downstream offers deep wading to boulder chamber which can be bypassed on right side to walking passage and, where stream rejoins, 30 m of crawling to an impenetrable surface boulder choke. The Right Hand Pot drops into the Upstream section before the duck (after Boycott & Sandford 1999.02.06 Mss: Krem Plat). CAVE DESCRIPTION 2001: »Large wide entrance chamber full of boulders with three pits in floor. One Pit (undescended) is too loose but probably connects to the underlying Boulder Chamber. Right One (undescended) connects to the streamway and the Central One 4 m to slope down to streamway where right is upstream and left leads over gours to Boulder Chamber« (Boycott, Antony 'Tony' 2001.07.20 Mss: Krem Plat). PROSPECTS 2000: »Could this be part of the downstream continuation of Krem –>Umso? (Jarratt 2000.03.15 Mss).« PROSPECTS 2001: »Downstream no possibilities -- ends in [sic! qua: gives access to] an inaccessible boulder slot resurgence [note 6]. The upstream sump is worth another look« (Boycott, Antony 'Tony' 2001.07.20 Mss: Krem Plat). CAVE LIFE: »A bat was seen and the cave smelled of cats -- apparently a small animal and not a tiger. This would be a wild cat or lynx …« (Jarratt 1999.02.05 Mss: Cave Log, vol. 7).
NOTE 1: »entrance chamber« (Boycott & Sandford 1999.02.06 Mss: Krem Plat), a chamber just behind the cave entrance. NOTE 2: It is interesting to learn that sports cavers live in a world with up to two possible directions while the rest of the world is burdened with a minimum of six cardinal directions: Apart from zenith and nadir not only north and south but also east and west. NOTE 3: u phyllâd (Khasi; noun) a kind of mongoose (SINGH, N 1906: 159); from "mangus" (Marathi); a relatively small carnivorous mammal with a long body and tail and a grizzled or banded coat, native to Africa and Asia. Family Viverridae (or Herpestidae): several genera, in particular Herpestes and Mungos, and many species, including the banded mongoose, M. mungo. NOTE 4: Among the "cats" (or so), which are at home in the abode of the fogs, one may smell "u bshád" (Khasi, noun) »a civet« (SINGH, N 1906: 15) "u khla" (Khasi; noun), binomial imitative: "u khla u thlen" (SINGH, N 1906: 32), the same as "u 'labah" (SINGH, N 1920: 529), »a tiger« (SINGH, N 1906: 32; SINGH, N 1920: 529; BLAH, E 2007: 308) in the sense of "u 'la thoh khyrwang" (SINGH, N 1920: 529); »a leopard« (SINGH, N 1906: 32; OLDHAM, T 1854 / 1984 appendix C: lxvii) "u kui" (Khasi, noun) »a lynx« (SINGH, N 1906: 51) "ka 'la" (Khasi; noun), a contraction of "ka khla" (SINGH, N 1906: 108), »a tiger; a leopard« (SINGH, N 1906: 108, 32) "ka / u 'labasa" (Khasi; noun) »a leopardess; a leopard« (BLAH, E 2007: 169) "ka / u laman" (Khasi; noun) »a Bengal tiger« (SINGH, N 1906: 110); »a tiger« (OLDHAM, T 1854 / 1984 appendix C: LXI) "ka / u miaw" (Khasi; noun) or "ka / u miau" (GURDON, P R T 1906: 208), »a cat« (SINGH, N 1906: 132; SINGH, N 1920: 62; BLAH, E 2007: 44; OLDHAM, T 1854 / 1984 appendix C: LXI). NOTE 5: »Um Long« (Jarratt 2001.11.12 Mss) is indicated as »Umlong« on the Survey of India Half-Inch series sheet 83-C/SW (edition 1922) near (±500 m) 25°10'06”N: 92°19'43”E (WGS84) modified from 25°10'04”N: 92°19'53”E (Everest 1830). Antony 'Tony' Boycott had recorded for Umlong a GPS position near (unidentified precision error) 25°10'20.7”N: 92°20'10.2”E (WGS84, Boycott A, undated 1999 GPS Garmin 12XL) and only 850 m in a direct line ENE from the approximate (±500 m) toposheet position. NOTE 6: I think the »inaccessible boulder slot resurgence« (Antony 'Tony' Boycott 2001.07.20 Mss: Krem Plat) refers to an impenetrable sink (outlet) and »I think he [Antony 'Tony' Boycott] means it is a resurgence seen from the inside« (Anthony 'Tony' Jarratt 2002.02.30 Mss: Amendments).
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.0 | PHLANG, Mutang (Krem) | ||
| 0.2 | CAT CAVE 2 (aa -) | ||
| 0.2 | CAT CAVE 3 (aa -) | ||
| 0.7 | VALLEY HEAD CAVE | ||
| 0.8 | TOM CAVE, including Yorkshire Pot | ||
| 0.8 | SHRIEH, Umlong (Krem) | ||
| 0.9 | PATI (Synrang) | ||
| 0.9 | UMJRI, Lumshnong (Krem) | ||
| 0.9 | WAH U LOH (Krem) |