LIAT HATI, Lumshnong (Krem)
25.176900,92.376100
Description
A corresponding pair of more or less »sizeable« (Brooks, S J in: BROOKS, S J et al. 1998) cave entrances, of which the northern one (adjacent to what had been in February 1997 the rat-hole coal mine which intersects the limestone cave dubbed Krem –>Mawiong), faces north and the other south, lie opposite across each other at both ends of a true tunnel cave, which is in a relic stage (abandoned by flowing water) of cave development. A ceiling window forms the third known "entrance to" (end of) this cave, which doubles up as a daylight window, allows humans relying on eyesight to traverse the almost 150 m long tunnel cave passage during daytime without urgent need for artificial illumination. A tributary cave passage, which usually is dark all day long, has not only been remembered as a »very clean and nicely decorated passage« that contains secondary calcite formations (dry, senile speleothems) but also was understood to lead to an impenetrable continuation that commences with an unidentified kind of an obstruction (Brooks, S J 1997.02.26 personal communication). ETYMOLOGY: The Khasi cave name "Krem Liat Hati" translates as "Cave [called after the] Through-Fall [of an] Elephant (note 1) or, in case one prefers a more stultified approach to interpretation, simply Elephant's Thoughfall Cave. The cave name was said, if Spindro Dkhar from Lumshnong was properly understood, to originate from the event of a timber-hauling elephant at work that fell by accident through the roof hole into the cave, down to the floor and to its death. Somebody, however, suggested to consider the allegedly elephant-shaped outline of the daylight window (roof hole).SITUATION: At the base of a relatively small cliff without comparison for scale and about 10 minutes on foot approximately south from a church in the village of Lumshnong (Paul Arthur Edmunds and Andrew "Andy" Peter Taylor 1997.02.24 personal communication confirmed by Simon "J" [James] Brooks 1997.02.26 personal communication). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1998: The trunk passage of the Elephant Through-Fall Cave connects two more or less »sizeable« (BROOKS, S J 1998b) cave entrances but contains, as far as known, neither a single nor a double lipped elephant's trunk (note 2). A skylight hole in »the roof« or ceiling of the trunkless trunk passage brightens the life of both expedition cavers and resident people becaus it renders the use of artificial light necessary only for dark side passages. CAVE DESCRIPTION 2015: The cave presents itself essentially as a gigantic, initially descending and then ascending tunnel (note 3) which leads [from a first] to a second entrance. A horizontal cave passage continues at the deepest point where a dam was probably built to have a water reservoir with dry times (note 4). The initial construction stage of a steel-reinforced concrete wall (note 5) marred in January 2015 possibly rather the northern than the southern cave entrance (note 6). CAVE POTENTIAL -- prospects: An initially obstructed crawl was found in January 2015 to lead to a partly explored but fully unsurveyed continuation (note 7). CULTURAL HISTORY, human use -- show cave: Either Ka Phrenly Shylla, the landlady and proprietor of the the cave (Scherzer, H 2015.04.01 Mss: 1_HyS_Tagebuch.doc) or a certain "grandmother on the hill" (Lindenmayr, F 2015.04.29 Mss: Anmerkungen und Ergänzungen) had intended or still intends to turn at least the easily accessible part of this tunnel cave into a profit generating show cave (note 8). CULTURAL HISTORY, human use -- source of water: The lowest part of the tunnel cave was somehow dammed to form a water reservoir (Lindenmayr, F 2015.04.29 Mss: Anmerkungen und Ergänzungen) at an unidentified stage of cave development between February 1997 and January 2015.
NOTE 1: liat (Khasi; verb) to fall through (SINGH, N 1906: 116). ka hati (Khasi, Assamese loanword; noun, feminine) or "u hati" (masculine), from "hati" (Sanskrit, etc.), the elephant (SINGH, N 1906: 81; SINGH, N 1920: 148; BLAH, E 2007: 89; OLDHAM, T 1854 / 1984 appendix C: LXI), zoologically: Proboscidea: Elephantidae, »a heavy plant-eating mammal with a prehensile trunk, long curved ivory tusks, and large ears, native to Africa and southern Asia« (Oxford Dictionary 2005). NOTE 2: The Indian Elephant (Elephas maximus), also called the Asian Elephant, is the elephant of southern Asia, which is smaller than the African Elephant, with smaller ears and only one lip to the trunk. It is often tamed as a beast of burden in India. The African Elephant (Loxodonta africana) is the elephant native to Africa, which is larger than the Indian Elephant, has larger ears and a two-lipped trunk. NOTE 3: A giant's crawlway, on average 11 m wide and 9 m high (Brooks, Taylor & Bäumler 1997.02.24 survey data). NOTE 4: »Die Höhle präsentiert sich im wesentlichen als erst absteigender und dann wieder ansteigender Riesentunnel, der zu einem zweiten Eingang führt. Am tiefsten Punkt zieht ein horizontaler Gang dahin, in dem eine Staumauer errichtet worden ist, wohl um eine Wasserreserve mit trockene Zeiten zu haben« (Lindenmayr, F 2015 undated Mss: Krem Liat Hati und Umgebung). NOTE 5: Apart from the man-made adit of a rathole coal mine (not noticed by Lindenmayr and Scherzer in 2015) there were no obvious human modifications visible in 1997 and 1998 (HDG, personal observation). NOTE 6: »Das weite Portal ist leider schon etwas verunstaltet durch das Betonfundament und den daraus herausragenden Baustahl einer einstmals geplanten Sperrmauer« (Lindenmayr, F 2015 undated Mss: Krem Liat Hati und Umgebung). NOTE 7: »In der Krem Liat Hati ist eine Fortsetzung vorerkundet aber nicht vermessen« (Scherzer, H 2015.04.01 Mss "Tagebuch" appendix: Nach der Expedition ist vor der Expedition). NOTE 8: »Es gab den Plan der Einrichtung einer Schauhöhle, der allerdings wohl auf Eis liegt« (Lindenmayr, F 2015 undated Mss: Krem Liat Hati und Umgebung). »Steht man am Eingang, dann wundert man sich sich vielleicht, was für ein Verhau dort herrscht. Das sind die traurigen Reste eines Versuchs, die Höhle abzuschliessen und später als Schauhöhle zu führen. Man versuchte eine Mauer aus Beton dort zu errichten, wozu man meterlange Baustahlarmierungen in die graue Masse senkrecht einbrachte. Der Rest des Baustahls liegt noch heute drinnen. Die Grundstückseigentümer versuchten auch, die öffentlichen Stellen zu bewegen, zur Höhle eine Fahrstrasse zu bauen, allerdings bis jetzt ohne Erfolg. Wir bekamen jedenfalls das Schreiben gezeigt« (Lindenmayr, F 2015.04.29 Mss: Anmerkungen und Ergänzungen). NOTE 9: »Krem Pohshnong« (Brooks, S J in: BROOKS, S J et al 1998: 30) in the sense of "Behind-the-village Cave" or "Short-of-the-village Cave" was meant to refer to Krem poh –>Shnong, one of the caves behind the village [of Lumshnong]. NOTE 10: »Krem Kot Sati / Krem Um Lawan system« (Brooks, S J in: BROOKS, S J et al 1998: 30) is a high-sounding (bombastic) epithet for Krem –>Kotsati. NOTE 11: The home of Ka Phrenly Shylla (landlady and owner of Krem Liat Hati) stands of the "cave hill" or, perhaps, Lum Krem: »Die Wohnstatt der Phrenli Shylla (Eigentümerin der Krem Liat Hati) wird im Volksmund der „Höhlenhügel“ genannt. Beiderseits des Hügels sind Schachtabstiege möglich« (Scherzer, H 2015.04.01 Mss "Tagebuch" Fr. 16.01.2015). NOTE 12: »Neville Sootinck stößt zur Gruppe. Krem Liat Hati. Mit Dreamson Shylla, 14-jähriger Enkelsohn der Höhleneigentümerin Phrenli Shylla. Die Höhle wurde vorerkundet, ohne Wissen über die bestehende Vermessung. Eine Fortsetzung am Ende des „rechten“ Flügels erwies sich im Nachhinein als noch unvermessen. Nachvermessung des südlichen Flügels mit einem Staudamm als Übung« (Scherzer, H 2015.04.01 Mss "Tagebuch" Di. 13.01.2015). NOTE 13: »Nachvermessung des westlichen Flügels ohne den westlichen Höhlenausgang. Ziel wäre gewesen im nach Norden führenden Gang den noch unvermessenen großen Abschnitt hinter einem Schluf zu vermessen. Ziel nicht erreicht. Anschlusspunkt markiert« (Scherzer, H 2015.04.01 Mss "Tagebuch" Mi 14.01.2015, nachmittags).
Documents
Bibliography 08/04/2016History
EXPLORATION HISTORY: 1997.02.24: Paul Arthur Edmunds and Andrew "Andy" Peter Tyler, who were assisted, supported and helped along by Brian D. Kharpran Daly and Georg Bäumler, measured several underground distances to such a degree that they arrived at believing to have "surveyed" this cave (Brooks, S J in: BROOKS, S J et al. 1998: 29) but lacked the creative and mental skills for producing a cave survey (cave plan). 1997.02.26: Simon J. Brooks and Paul A. Edmunds conducted a surface traverse »to enable Krem Liat Hati and Krem Pohshnong [note 9] to be linked into the overall Krem Kot Sati / Krem Um Lawan system [note 10] survey« (Brooks, S J in: BROOKS, S J et al 1998: 30). 2015.01.13: Dreamson Shylla from Lumshnong, the son of Ka Phrenli Shylla (note 11), guided Harald "Harry" Scherzer and Franz Lindenmayr into the cave. D Shylla revealed inconspicuous squeezes, H Scherzer commenced to survey, and F Lindenmayr disappeared as soon as sizeable and substantial but unexplored cave passages were found to continue (note 12). 2015.01.14: Harald "Harry" Scherzer and Neville Sootinck exercised the practical application of digital cave surveying (DistoX) and resurveyed a selection of the known parts of the cave (note 13).
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.0 | COALMINE CAVE, Lumshnong (aa -) | ||
| 0.1 | AA CAVE, Lumshnong (Scherzer), 5th | ||
| 0.1 | AA CAVE, Lumshnong (Scherzer), 6th | ||
| 0.1 | UMSHOR 2 (Krem) | ||
| 0.1 | UMSHOR 3 (Krem) | ||
| 0.1 | AA CAVE, Lumshnong (Lindenmayr) 08 | ||
| 0.1 | AA CAVE, Lumshnong (Lindenmayr) 03 | ||
| 0.1 | AA CAVE, Lumshnong (Lindenmayr) 04 | ||
| 0.1 | UMSHOR (Krem) |