BUDHER SLIT POT
30.756100,77.790800
Description
A certain »Slit Pot« descending vertically 26.5 or 27.4 m along the ladder (note 1) terminates in »nothing more than a widening of the shaft at the bottom of the pitch« with »an extremely fine stalgamite [speleothems] covered wall.« SITUATION: Leakey (1942.10.10 location map: Budyar Hut) and Leakey (1942.12.01 Mss: Himalayan Caves) located »Slit Pot« initially at »Budyar« or »Bodyar« (note 2) but Leakey (1942.12.01 Mss: Himalayan Caves) and Glennie (1946.08.01 Mss: Bodyar Area Potholes) grouped Slit Pot along with the pothole caves in the »Durbita Khal« (note 3) -- the Budher hut lies in the Durbita Khal (Durbita stream valley). Leakey (1942.10.10: Location map Budyar Pots) positions Slit Pot at a (linear?) distance of 85 yards (78 m) approximately north-east of »Choked Pot« (Budher Timber Pot) and 200 yards (183 m) on a bearing of 65° (south by north-west) from the native's »cow-shed cum house« at Budher (note 4). Leakey (1942.12.01 Mss: Himalayan Caves) puts Slit Pot »About 250 yds. [230 m without orientation, perhaps on foot?, note 5] up in the forest above Budyar Pot« (Budher Pot). Leakey (1946 June: Bodyar Pothole Map) places Slit Pot below a path approximately south from his Chowkidar Pots and sort of westish from "Timber Pot" (i.e. –>Durbita Timber Pot). Glennie (1946.08.01 Mss: Bodyar Area Potholes) places Slit Pot »100 yards from Timber Pot, half left when facing up the hill, and 50 yds and 200 ft in height above the valley floor« where the cave entrance »consists of a narrow vertical slit in a few feet of vertical rock 20 ft below the remains of a forest path, just where this path curves round a wide spur.« CAVE DESCRIPTION 1942a: »Deep sinkhole […] to chamber with good stalagmite fall [sic! qua: wall]« (Glennie, Edward Aubrey 1942.10.05-19 Mss: Diary, 9th October 1942). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1942b: Slit Pot »… is a long vertical slit about 15 or 20 ft. [13.7 or 18 m] high in a line of tree covered outcrop rock. The widest part of the slit is the top and it will just admit the human body. There are two 40 ft. [12.2 m] pitches following one another, and the total depth is 90 ft. [27.4 m]. Like so many pots up there, it terminates in nothing more than a widening of the shaft at the bottom of the pitch. This pothole, however, had an extremely fine stalagmite covered wall« (Leakey 1942.12.01 Mss: Himalayan Caves) CAVE DESCRIPTION 1946a: The cave entrance »is at the top of the slit and the depth is 90 ft [27.43 m or so] from the entrance. The ladder does not lie vertically, & there is a scree slope near the bottom. The lower reaches have a fine stalagmite walling« (Glennie 1946.08.01 Mss: Bodyar Area Potholes). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1946b: »Slit Pot. This pot is 80 or 90 ft. [24.38 or 27.43 m] deep & a coolie & I entered it in 1942. It has a stalagmite walling […] You did not go down. Could you mean this pot as the 80 ft. one?« or –>Kandwa Pot 6 (Leakey 1946.08.20 Mss: Letter to E. A. Glennie) CAVE LIFE: Slit Pot (Durbita) is »said to be a nesting place for swifts [swiftlets?] but his needs confirming« (Glennie 1946.08.01 map: Bodyar Area Potholes).
NOTE 1: Both Leakey (1942.12.01 Mss, 1946.08.20 Mss) and Glennie (1946.08.01 Mss) report a »total depth« (actually the travelling distance or ladder length used) of 90 ft. (27.4 m) but Leakey's cave plan »Slit Pot, sectional view looking north, scale 20FT = 1 Inch« (1: 240) expressively says the true vertical (perpendicular) range is 87 ft. (26.5 m). NOTE 2: Leakey (1942.10.09 cave plan: Slit Pot) has an unclear handwritten note added saying something like »B#dhyar« (Budhyar or Bodhyar for Budher). NOTE 3: »Budher Slit Pot« (Leakey 1942.12.01 Mss: Himalayan Caves) and »Durbita Slit Pot« (Glennie 1946.08.01 Mss: Bodyar Area Potholes) appear to be the same: Both open near the upper end of a vertical crack and both descend 90 ft. to a »stalagmite covered« wall. NOTE 4: Budher (hut) N30°45'20”: E77°47'25” (Everest 1830): 2335 m (S.I. Forest Map 4 Inch to 1 Mile, ca. 1940 edition, sheet: 53-F/13 S2). NOTE 5: »The figures quoted are from memory« (comment written in Leakey's hand at the end of the typescript Leakey 1942.12.01 Mss: Himalayan Caves).
History
EXPLORATION HISTORY: 1942.10.08: Edward Aubrey Glennie (1942.10.05-19 Mss: Diary), Mary Hazelton (Glennie's niece), Robert D. Leakey, A. E. Leydon, one "Michael" (?) and a "Wheeler" (?) assisted and guided by unidentified porters and shepherds »Came out at 6.15 pm [from –>Moila Toad Hole]. Ran back to bungalow [Budher Forest Rest House] and got news of cave alleged near by. Went to it about 2 miles [3 km] away and 1000 feet [about 300 m] away. Got back at 7.30 pm.« 1942.10.09: »Leakey went down […] to chamber with good stalagmite fall [sic! for wall?] and took two photos« (Glennie, E. A. 1942.10.05-19 Mss: Diary). R. D. Leakey (1942.10.09 cave plan: Slit Pot; 1946.08.20 Mss: Letter to E. A. Glennie) and an unidentified »coolie« entered and discovered »a stalagmite walling which I photographed twice and gave you copies. You did not go down.« 1946.08: »Party went down again this month« (R. D. Leakey 1946.08.20 Mss: Letter to E. A. Glennie).
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.0 | BUDHER MUD POT | ||
| 0.0 | BUDHER TIMBER POT | ||
| 0.4 | DURBITA POT 2 (Lower) | ||
| 0.4 | DURBITA POT 1 (Upper) | ||
| 0.5 | KANDWA POT 2 | ||
| 0.5 | KANDWA POT | ||
| 0.5 | KANDWA POT 4 | ||
| 0.5 | KANDWA POT 3 | ||
| 0.5 | KANDWA POT 5 |