LUNUGE CAVE

Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 06/01/2018

A small drop down into a puit (STRINATI & AELLEN 1981: 459) or shaft without identified dimensions gives access to a descending cave chamber characterised by dislocated boulders and bat guano deposits with associated cave fauna. Several, allegedly peu importantés (little important) cave passages continue into diverse directions. IDENTITY: Lunuge Cave is but another name for Lunuhinda Cave (STRINATI & AELLEN 1981: 459) and possibly is not only the same as –>Nitre Cave Nalandi (Davy 1821) but also either –>Nitre Cave Nalande (Forbes 1840) 1 or –>Nitre Cave Nalande (Forbes 1840) 2. ETYMOLOGY: Since the Sinhala -lunu- means salt and -ge- is the equivalent of an apostrophe indicating possession, -Lunuge Cave- translates literally into White's Lena and means Cave of White. Foreigners, however, prefer to call the cave not by its name but after the nearby populated place of Nalanda (Nalandé, Nalande). So far, I saw Lunuge Lena or Lunuge Galge called, spelled, transcribed, or edited (chronolgically sorted) as Nalandi nitre cave DAVY (1821: 31 note nitre-cave no. 14), Nalande nitre cave FORBES (1840, 1841 vol. 2: 52), Nalandé nitre cave PRIDHAM (1849, 2: 656), grotta di Lunuge, Nalanda BRIGNOLI (1972: 908, 909, 911, 927), Lunuge Cave = Lunuhinda Cave STRINATI & AELLEN (1981: 459), Lunuge STRINATI & AELLEN (1981: 460), Lunuge Cave, Nalanda AELLEN, SKET & STRINATI (2001: 1977). POSITION 1: Lunuge Cave N07°39'34”: E080°39'07” (unspecified geodetic datum probably Everest 1830): 290 m asl (barometric, STRINATI & AELLEN 1981: 459) lies about 800 m (±2.5 km) in a direct line SSE from POSITION 2: Lunuhinda Cave N07°40': E080°39' (WGS84) is one of the eight -CAVE- designations of Sri Lanka, which are listed on the internet websites nima.mil/geonames (accessed 16.11.2003) and wayhoo.com (accessed 25.05.2004). SITUATION: At an unspecified location somewhere in the vicinity of Nalanda (note 1), a small town and great tourist hot spot about 25 km along the road A9 north of Matle (N07°28'18”: E080°37'28” WGS84) and 20 km along the road short of (south of) Dambulla (N07°51'36”: E080°39'06” WGS84). SITUATION 1821: DAVY 1821: 31): Nalandi SITUATION 1840: FORBES (1840, 1841 vol. 2: 52-53): In the neighbourhood of Nalande which itself lies fifteen miles [24 km] from Matale, and the same distance from Dambool (Dambulla).SITUATION 1849 (PRIDHAM 1849): In the vicinity of Nalandé SITUATION 1981: STRINATI & AELLEN (1981) place Lunuge Cave / Lunuhinda Cave at an unspecified location and without identified spatial relation près de Nalanda (near Nalanda). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1840: FORBES (1840, 1841 vol. 2: 52-53): One of … two caves, from which a small quantity of saltpetre was prepared under the native Government. CAVE DESCRIPTION 1981: STRINATI & AELLEN (1981: 459): Un puits peu profond donne accès à une chambre descendante; nombreux blocs éboulés et grands amas de guano de chauve-souris. Plusieurs galeries peu importantés partent dans diverse directions. CAVE CIMATE: STRINATI & AELLEN (1981: 459) report a temperature of 26°C (in the air?). CAVE LIFE: Lunuge Cave is the type locality of Andasta genevensium Brignoli 1972 (Theridiosomatidae). STRINATI & AELLEN (1981) report to have collected on 25th January 1970 bats (Chiroptera: Hipposiderus sp., Rousettus sp.), frogs (Rana Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis cyanophlyctis Schneider, Ptyas Rhacophorus microtympanum), a reptile (Ptyas mucosus maximus Deraniyagala), Molusca, Isopoda, Diplopoda, spiders, Amblypyga, Collembola and Orthoptera. BRIGNOLI (1972) describes the taxonomy of spiders (Arachnida, Aranea) collected from Grotta di Lunuge, Nalanda by Strinati & Aellen: Page 908: Oonopidae: Gamasomorpha subclathrata Simon 1909. Pages 909-910 Pholcidae: Pholcus ceylonicus O. Pickard Cambridge 1869. Pages 911-913: Theridiosomatidae: Andasta genevensium n.sp. AELLEN, SKET & STRINATI (2001: 1977, 1978) confirm to have collected on 25th January 1970 Myriapoda: Diplopoda: Cambalopsidae: Trachyiulus willeyi Car 1941; Arachnida: Aranaea: Theridiosomatidae: Andasta genevensium Brignoli 1972; Oonopidae: Gamasomorpha cf subclathrata Simon. 1941; Arachnida: Aranaea: Theridiosomatidae: Andasta genevensium Brignoli 1972; Oonopidae: Gamasomorpha cf subclathrata Simon.