SHNONG, Umsteiñ (Ngam)

(Khliehriat - IN)
25.154400,92.360600
Grottocenter / carte

Description

Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 28/03/2016

What appears to be a "Umstein Village Sink" is a collapse doline full of boulders, which contained in February 1997 up to four enterable squeezes into a cave passage (4 m by 2 m, 130°, -50°) descending to a boulder choke at an estimated distance of 20 m from the cave entrance. ETYMOLOGY: The Khasi verb "ngam" has been translated as to »sink, plunge, subside« (note 1). The verb "shnong" means »to sit, to settle« and the noun "ka shnong“ (abbreviated: nong) is the word for »a village, a town, a city« (SINGH, N 1906: 144, 197; SINGH, N 1920: 534; BLAH, E 2007: 311). Boycott & Jarratt (1997.02.26 personal communication) understood »Ganshnung« (sic! Ngam Shnong) and thought it would mean "Nearby Cave" (in Khasi: Krem [ba] poh). The Khasi "u steiñ" signifies the fibre obtained from the bark of Villebrunia integrifolia, »a tree« (SINGH, N 1906: 211) or »fibreous plant« (SINGH, N 1906: 182), which is used for making thread ('sái steiñ) and rope (note 2). SITUATION: An estimated 200 m in an unidentified direction from an unspecified point at Umstein (25°09'21”N: 92°21'49”E, Boycott, A 1997 February GPS), a village on the track from Lumshnong (N25°10'46”: E92°22'49”) down to Wahstein (25°09'05”N: 92°20'50”E, Boycott, A. 1997 February GPS).

Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 28/03/2016

NOTE 1: ngam (Khasi; verb, intransitive) to sink (OLDHAM, T 1854 / 1984 appendix C: lxv; SINGH, N 1906: 77; SINGH, N 1920: 475); to plunge (SINGH, N 1906: 77); subside (BLAH, E 2007: 293). NOTE 2; »In every Khasi house is to be found the net bag which is made out of pineapple fibre, or of u stein, the Assamese riha (Boehmeria nivea)« (GURDON, P R T 1906: 36).

Documents

Bibliography 28/03/2016

Histoire

EXPLORATION HISTORY: 1997.02.26: Swit Sungoh, then a retired Umstein village headman, guided Antony 'Tony' Boycott, (scouting), Anthony 'Tony' R Jarratt (scouting), Estelle Sandford (scouting) and Kyrmen 'Hope' C Hiwot Passah (interpreting) into the cave, where they entered, explored and "surveyed" (sports caver standards) »some 20 m of passage« (Brooks, S J in: BROOKS, S J et al 1998: 29) to a degree yielding a "survey" (total sum of survey leg lengths) but no cave survey (cave plan). Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 28/03/2016

Cavités proche

Distance (km)NomLongueur (m)Profondeur (m)
0.8WAHBAH SANG (Krem)
1.2WAH URLA (Krem)
1.2WAH STEIÑ (Jarratt 1997b) (Cave near)
1.4UMRYMPHEW (Krem)
1.4WAH LARENG (Müller 1999) (Krem)
1.5WAH STEIÑ (Jarratt 1997a) (Cave near)
1.5WAH LARENG (Brooks 1997) (Umpohliew)
2.0CHILLI CAVE, Lumshnong
2.1VALLEY HEAD CAVE