SHUKI (Ka Krem Pubon)
25.182300,92.139400
Description
An inviting cave entrance, formerly (1992 Nov., 1998 Feb) obliterated by fallen boulders but is currently (2012 Feb.) approached by a comfortable flight of steps, faces west and gives access to almost a kilometre of horizontal cave passages characterised by secondary calcite formations (speleothems), gravitationally dislocated rocks, and a few handfulls of potentially lethal coal dust. IDENTITY 1992a: »The Chair Cave or Ka Krem Pubon Chuki« is the 11th of altogether eleven »Syndai caves« (BAZELY, P J 1992, 3: 73 item 11). IDENTITY 1992b: »Geronimus Pala plus the guide and a local bird hunter« guided Simon J. Brooks and Christopher M. Smart into »another local cave called [sic! qua: dubbed] Krem Sweep« (BROOKS & SMART 1993: 12). IDENTITY 1995: »The Chair Cave or Ka Krem Pubon Shuki« is the 11th of altogether eleven »Syndai caves« (LALOO, S S 1995a: 4 item 11, 1995b: 4 item 11). IDENTITY 1998: Enquiring for the location of the cave entrance to Krem Shuki, a Syndai resident guided Brian D. Kharpran Daly and H. D. Gebauer past the school and partway down into a gully (water-worn ravine) called Shuki (8th February 1998). IDENTITY 2005: It is the cave entrance to »Krem Rupasor« which is »situated just a few minutes walk from behind the village school, in a depression. It [ rather the cave than the village school or the depression] has beautiful stalactites and stalagmites. It has a chamber of cathedral proportions. Length is 970 m« (KHARPRAN DALY, B D 2005 s.a.; 2006 s.a.: 37). IDENTITY 2012: »Krem Sweep (92) = Ka Krem Pubon Amsohlang« (Smart, C M loose leaf weatherwrite.com survey sheet paginated 1, dated »20|2|12« = 20th February 2012) complete with GPS positions recorded for the cave entrance to Krem Amsohlang (note 1). IDENTITY 2013: »Krem Shuki -- Not a cave but an area of Syndai near Krem Sweep« (Smart, C M 2013.03.11 "The definitive list of the caves of Syndai" after G. Parleyfort Pamthied, Syndai). ETYMOLOGY: The origin of the cave names for »The Chair cave or Ka Krem Pubon Chuki« (BAZELY, P J 1992, 3: 73) or »The Chair cave or ka Krem Pubon Shuki« (LALOO, S S 1995a: 4, 1995b: 4) appear to derive rather from the Khasi (Hindi loan word) "ka shuki" (noun) or ”chuki” (BAZELY, P J 1992, 2: 73) and ”chowki” (OLDHAM, T 1854 / 1984 appendix C: lxvi) for »a chair« (SINGH, N 1906: 199; SINGH, N 1920: 65; BLAH, E 2007: 46) or »seat« (SINGH, N 1920: 460) than from the Khasi "pár suki (verb), »to crawl« (SINGH, N 1920: 101) in the sense of ”pár kum u khñiang” (SINGH, N 1920: 101), to creep like a worm or insect, or from "ba suki" (adjective), »slow; gradual« (SINGH, N 1906: 212); »backward; dilatory« (SINGH, N 1920: 35, 123). G. Parleyfort Pamthied, who had been in February 2012 a village school teacher in Syndai, pointed out that the cave is better called after the stream Amsohlang (note 2) as "Shuki" is the name of an area of the village of Syndai (Smart, C M 2013.03.11 "The definitive list of the caves of Syndai" after G. Parleyfort Pamthied, Syndai). Passing outsiders, however, preferred to fabricate the Anglo-Pseudokhasi nickname »Krem Sweep« (note 3) without considering the Pseudokhasi-English counterpart »Sar Cave« (note 4). SITUATION 1992: »Located at Syndai village« (BAZELY, P J 1992, 2: 73; LALOO, S S 1995a: 4, 1995b: 4).SITUATION 1993: »The [cave] entrance is to be found in a relatively small vegetated depression [sic! more likely: a long and narrow, steeply southeast-descending gully or ravine] some fifteen minutes walk south of the village [centre] of Syndai and can be reached by taking the small path that runs down hill past the village school. Descending this depression [sic! qua: ravine] a short scramble down, a rift is met. At the base of this a squeeze between some very large and somewhat unstable sandstone boulders« (BROOKS & SMART 1993). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1993: A »squeeze between some very large and somewhat unstable sandstone boulders (care needed) enters a [relatively] spacious chamber containing some [relatively] large [secondary calcite] formations. Crossing the chamber [in an unidentified direction] the way on lies up a calcite slope and through a [hidden, inconspicuous] hole at roof level leading to a [cave] passage some 10 m high by approximately eight wide. A little way down this passage, a very clean group of large (person sized) stalactites cover the floor of the passage with the passage continuing beyond in similar proportions for some 200 m in an easterly direction. At this point the passage swings sharply to the left, increases in size to around 20 m high by 20 m wide and runs more or less straight for another 700 m to end in [sic! qua: to lead to] a large boulder choke. This impressive passage continues with the final section of passage being an almost perfect 25 by 25 m square in profile and running in an absolutely straight line for over 240 m. Just prior to this section a [relatively] small unstable [cave] passage [unidentified dimensions] runs back parallel to the main passage from an opening on the [occasionally] left wall.These caves are very dry with only the odd pool of water here and there and as such would appear to be very old passage, maybe an abandoned fossil passage [note 4]. They are largely developed along the strike of the limestone beds and lie at similar altitudes, there is a strong possibility that other similar caves can be found in this fascinating region« (BROOKS & SMART 1993). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1995: »… a small and loose boulder choke entrance that soon gave access to the splendid 970 m long Krem Sweep with a noteworthy final section …« (SMART, C M 1995a: 6). CAVE DESCRIPTION 2012: »3 m wide rift (runs W-E) ¬ Entrance faces West« (Smart, Christopher M 2012.02.20 loose leaf weatherwrite.com survey sheet paginated 1, dated 20|2|12). CAVE POTENTIAL: The noteworthy "Final Section" runs headlong into a fault zone and the sandstone ceiling, which spans from wall to wall of the entire cave, is upthrusted along a parallel bundle of vertical shear zones and gives way to a vault of shattered limestone merging into massive collapse with traces of coal. A dead end. BROOKS & SMART (1993) suggest that »there is a strong possibility that other similar caves can be found in this fascinating region« but till today (24.11.2010) have not returned.CAVE CLIMATE: The air temperature in the distal end measured 22°C (±0.5°C) at 13h15 on 08 February 1998. CAVE LIFE: »Bats, Hetapoda, Cave crickets, 1x Snake, Butterflies, + flies in entrance rift @ surface« (Smart, C M loose leaf weatherwrite.com survey sheet paginated 1, dated 20|2|12). Keywords: Arachnidae (Araneae: conf. Sparassidae: Heteropoda sp.); Orthoptera indet.; conf. Diptera; Lepidoptera indet.; Chiroptera indet.
NOTE 1: »Krem Sweep (92)« or Krem Amsohlang, the 5th definite Syndai Cave (Smart 2013), near ±34 m WGS84 25.18230°N: 92.13939°E (McManus S J 2012.02.20 GPS) ±20 m WGS84 25.18231°N: 92.13937°E: 430 m (Harper R C 2012.02.20 13:35 GPS Garmin 400 Oregon, six satellites). NOTE 2: "u soh-lang" (Khasi; noun) »a kind of small wild fruit growing in bunches and much liked by children and birds« (SINGH, N 1906: 208). NOTE 3: »It savours of impertinence for Europeans to assert their views against the usage of other civilisations« (Tom G. Longstaff in: Swami Pranavananda: The sources of the Brahmaputra …- Geographical Journal ISSN 0016-7398, London: Royal Geographical Society, vol. XCIII, no. 2, February 1939, page 135). NOTE 4: »Krem Sweep -- This cave was so named because unlike the former [namely Krem Rupasor, the –>Syndai Cave] it is not subjected to the kerosene torches and is not sooty« (BROOKS & SMART 1993). The Anglo-Pseudokhasi "Krem Sweep" mirrors a complementary Khasi-English mongrel »Sar Cave« as the Khasi verb "sâr" means »to sweep« (SINGH, N 1906: 183; SINGH, N 1920: 513; BLAH, E 2007: 298; OLDHAM, T 1854 / 1984 appendix C: lxv). NOTE 5: It is always intriguing to come across the rare occasion of an accessible »fossil [cave] passage« which consists of a solid piece of rock that once had been a cave infilling but now is exposed and devoid of the surrounding cave bearing rock in which it had been deposited. BROOKS & SMART (1993), however, walked in and out of their allegedly »fossil passage« and thus rather in a cave passage filled with air than with solid rock. Possibly meant had been a relic cave passage, which is enterable for humans, represents a formerly active cave passage but currently is abandoned by flowing waters that once formed it.
Documents
Bibliography 31/05/2016Histoire
EXPLORATION HISTORY: 1992.11.09: Simon J. Brooks and Christopher M. Smart »went back to Krem Syndai [sic! qua: Syndai Cave] for photography while Rob [Robert Harper], Helen [Harper] and Geronimus Pala plus the [unidentified] guide [no name mentioned] and a [likewise unidentified] local bird hunter [no name mentioned] made a reconnaissance visit to another local cave called [sic! qua: dubbed] Krem Sweep. This cave was further explored, surveyed and photographed by all later that afternoon« (BROOKS & SMART 1995: 12). This "survey" (sportsman standards) resulted in about 970 m of accumulated survey leg lengths and a pale and nude silhouette without scale and lacking a north-arrow. 1998.02.08: Brian D. Kharpran Daly and H. D. Gebauer visited, recorded a low precision GPS reading (4-channel GPS), measured the temperature in the air, and identified the highly dangerous »histoplasmosis bearing bat guano« (that had been discovered by life risking sports cavers) to actually consist of a few handfulls of coal dust.
Cavités proche
| Distance (km) | Nom | Longueur (m) | Profondeur (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.2 | SYNDAI CAVE | ||
| 0.6 | AMKOR TYRMEI (Krem) | ||
| 0.7 | AMLADKOH (Krem) | ||
| 1.0 | LANGOHMAT (Krem) | ||
| 1.1 | KRIAH (Krem) | ||
| 1.1 | KYNDA, Syndai (Krem) | ||
| 1.1 | SYNDAI CAVE, 2nd (Smart 2013) | ||
| 1.1 | RHEN RMEN (Krem) | ||
| 1.1 | AMKHLOO, Syndai (Krem) |