TOM CAVE, including Yorkshire Pot
25.182500,92.366900
Description
An 8 m wide and 4 m high cave entrance leads to meandering passage that may be followed at various levels, walking or crawling, and via a tight squeeze past a flake, to emerge in a choked 30 m daylight shaft, the "Yorkshire Pot." According to Jarratt (2000.03.15 Mss), »Matom may be old resurgence of Krem Umso« (Krem Umso, Thangskai). A second, vertical entrance was christened –>Yorkshire Pot. Nearby is a –>Cat Cave. ETYMOLOGY: No autochthonous or locally known name has been identified for a cave which Anthony 'Tony' [R. Jarratt and Antony 'Tony' Boycott wanted to dedicate to a certain »Tom« (note 1) but then, in the process of fabricating a Pseudokhasi disguise for "Tom Cave", confused the Khasi word "bah" (note 3) with "ma" and gestated a "Krem Matom" or »Frightful / Dangerous Tom Cave« (note 3). IDENTITY: Anthony 'Tony' R Jarratt (2000.06.12 Mss, 2002.04.20 Mss after Spindro Dkhar 2000 February and 2002 February, personal communications) suspects the cave might be the same as Krem –>Dngiem, Mutang or »Mutang Bear Cave«, the site of 1997 bear attack on local hunter. Jarratt (2000.03.15 personal correspondence) suggests Ba Spindro should be taken to the entrance of this cave to confirm its true name. Jarratt (2002.04.20 personal correspondence) explained that the cave name "Krem Dngiem" or "Bear Cave" had been »Noted and spelled by Ba Spindro. The only way to reveal the truth of their correct position, etc. would be to drag him along to the site.« SITUATION: The entrance of this cave is 11 minutes steady stroll from the National Highway 44 (Shillong to Agartala) and is not easy to locate. A machete may be required to cut through undergrowth. To reach the cave from the Soil Conservation Bungalow at Lumshnong on the National Highway towards Lumshnong proper, cross new bridge, pass mile post and finally a white memorial stone on the right side of road. Some 50 m beyond this take the track to the right (west) which leads to the cement plant. Pass the cement plant and bear west through a grove of orange trees (botanically: Citrus reticulate). The path then passes through some pinnacles and onward through the orange grove. Bear to the right and after some 150 m there are two white barked trees. The cave entrances lie in a cliff of a low ridge some 30 m to the right of the track (Simon Brooks, undated February 1999 Mss). CAVE DESCRIPTION: »FS, TJ, TB hacked through jungle to entrance above Umlong track. Surveyed 200 m of multiple levelled cave named Krem MaTom, past Mendip type squeeze by flake. Massive draught from daylight shaft in sandstone. Nice fluty shaft choked below …« (Sandford 1999.02.14 Mss: IB Logbook 99). PROSPECTS: Antony 'Tony' Boycott (1999 February Mss) noticed that the cave passage continues tight »… but needs [sic! qua: would need a vandal who is prepared to cause damage, destruction and havoc by applying] a hammer to enter past flake. Side passages also not explored« (Sandford, E 1999.02.14 Mss: IB Logbook 99). CAVE LIFE (Christian W. Fischer 2001.02.09 personal correspondence): Snails: One shell of Testacellidae indet (in coll. University of Ulm, Germany); Spiders: Heteropoda spec. (three specimens collected, in coll. Natural History Museum in Bern, Switzerland) later determined as Arachnidae: Araneae: Sparassidae: Heteropoda fischeri Jäger (2005); Harvestmen / Laniatores spec. (one specimen collected, in coll. Schwedinger, Geneve, Switzerland); Springtails / Entomobryidae spec. (six specimens collected; in coll. Thibaut, Paris, France); Beetles: Cholevidae spec. (seven specimens collected, in coll. Schawaller, Stuttgart, Germany). Jarratt (2001.10.29 personal correspondence) recorded »Dog-like skull« (Canidae? Mustelidae?) and »also found evidence of porcupines (scratch marks).«
NOTE 1: tom (English, noun) the male of various animals, esp. a turkey or domestic cat. Origin mid 18th century. tom (English, verb, intrasitive, informal, derogatory); of a black person »to behave in an excessively obedient or servile way.« Origin (late Middle English, the English language from circa 1150 to circa 1470), denoting an ordinary man, surviving in tomfool, tomboy, and the phrase Tom, Dick, and Harry; 2. abbreviation of the given name Thomas (Oxford Dictionary 2005). Cavers in search of recreational adventure sports dubbed this Tom Cave in honour of the health worker Tom Chapman. NOTE 2: bah (Khasi, vocative) is a term of respect as "u bah" (noun, masculine) is used to address »an elder brother« (SINGH, N 1906: 7). NOTE 3: ka 'ma (noun), a contraction of "ka thma", is the word for »a battle, a campaign« and [ba] má (Khasi, adjective) means »dangerous, frightful« but (SINGH, N 1906: 126) but u má (Khasi, noun) is used in case of addressing »the maternal uncle« as "ma" (prefix) is »used with the personal pronoun to emphasize it« as in "manga" = »It is I« or "maphi" = »it is you« etc.« (SINGH, N 1906: 126). GURDON, P R T (1906: 207) confirms that »the emphatic form of the personal pronoun is formed by prefixing "ma", e.g. "ma-nga, ma-u" after a verb, but not after a preposition, e.g. "dei-ma-nga" (it is I). But "ai ia ma nga" is an incorrect form.«
History
EXPLORATION HISTORY: 1999.02.14: Boycott, Antony 'Tony', Anthony 'Tony' R Jarratt and Fraser Simpson explored and "surveyed" (tape spotter standards). The cave was later "dug" and -- due to the usual mess of survey data -- even more "surveyed" to conclusion« (abandonment of the survey progress). 1999.02.22: Christian W. Fischer collected specimens of cave fauna, including one female specimen (PJ 693, in coll. Naturhistorisches Museum Bern / C. Kropf) of Arachnidae: Araneae: Saprassidae: Heteropodinae: Heteropoda fischeri Jäger (2005).2000.02.25: Coalminers indicated the surface location of the 30 m shaft "Yorkshire Pot“ to Brian D. Kharpran Daly, Anthony 'Tony' R. Jarratt, Fraser E. Simpson and Amanda Edgeworth.
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | PATI (Synrang) | ||
| 0.1 | UMJRI, Lumshnong (Krem) | ||
| 0.1 | WAH U LOH (Krem) | ||
| 0.2 | YORKSHIRE POT | ||
| 0.2 | AA CAVE (Jarratt 2000.02.22) | ||
| 0.4 | SHYNRANG THLOO, 1st (Krem) | ||
| 0.6 | DNGIEM, Mutang (Krem) | ||
| 0.6 | MUTANG (Cave near) | ||
| 0.6 | MUTANG COAL MINE CAVE |