UMPYJAW (Krang)

Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 06/01/2018

A spring of water issues from a wide relatively low arched (Harries, D B 2002.06.10 personal correspondence) cave entrance (6 m wide, 3 m high), which faces an unidentified direction (perhaps north-west) and gives access to a cave passage leading upstream (south-east) to relatively large chambers with unidentified dimensions and a flowstone slope. One branch of the cave somehow reconnects to the surface (Krang –>Umpyjaw 2) but water enters by relatively small fissures (after Brown, M W 2002.02.23 Mss: Krem Umpyjaw 23/2/02). ETYMOLOGY: The origin and meaning of the cave name Krem Umpyjaw (Harries 2002.02.23 Meghalaya Cave Record) and Krem Umpyrjaw (Harries 2008.04.22 personal correspondence) or so has not yet been discovered but may derive from a corrupted version of the Khasi words 1) -[ba] pyjah- or -[ba] pjah- and -[ba] 'jah- (adjective) cold (SINGH, N 1906: 96, 161, 165), 2) -pyjar- or -pjar- (verb) to strain, to drain (SINGH, N 1906: 161, 165), 3) -pynjaw- (verb) combining -pyn-(prefix) to cause to (GURDON, P R T 1906: 208) with -jáw- (Khasi; verb) to leak (SINGH, N 1906: 100; SINGH, N 1920: 287), to drop (SINGH, N 1906: 100; SINGH, N 1920: 140; BLAH, E 2007: 85) as, for example, -jáw ummat- (Khasi; verb) means to shed tears (SINGH, N 1906: 100) and -ba kah da ki ummat ba jaw- (adjective) clothes into Khasi words to blear (SINGH, N 1920: 47). 4) -pyrjah- (verb, transitive) to smack the lips as a sign of anger or appreciation of food (SINGH, N 1906: 168). SITUATION: In an unidentified setting at an unspecified location (Brown, M W 2002.02.23 Meghalaya Cave Record: Krem Umpyjaw 23/2/02).APPROACH: From the bridge (note 1) in the village of Umlingsha or Umlynsha (note 2), follow the streambed upstream for an unspecified distance up to a point at an unidentified position where a relatively small tributary stream enters from one or the other the right (probably the orographically left) and follow the tributary for an unidentified distance in an unspecified directin up to its source. CAVE DESCRIPTION 2002: At the exsurgence entrance (6 m wide, 3 m high), a dry route to the left leads up over muddy sand for about 5 m reaching a T-junction where a route on somebody's personal left hand becomes too tight after 3 m and another route on the same or another body's own hand closes down after 7 m. On an unspecified right-hand side of the cave entrance, a pool leads to a 10 m long duck. Beyond the duck a rocky passage with pools continues upstream. A passage off to an unspecified right leads after a short distance to a sump. In the main passage there are routes over calcited boulders (speleothems) on the left -- these come close to the surface reaching topsoil and sandstone breakdown. Main route reaches a relatively large, wide passage. Bedding plane crawl on an unidentified left reaches a relatively wide, low and sandy chamber with no way on. A relatively large main passage leads to a flowstone slope over boulders -- no route on at high level but wll decorated. An unidentified right of the flowstone slope a passage becomes low and wet with very unstable boulders on an unspecified left which, believe it or not, finally closes down. To an unidentified the left of the flowstone slope is a meandering muddy cave passage which reconnects to the surface (after Brown, M W 2002.02.23 Mss: Krem Umpyjaw 23/2/02; Harries 2002.06.10 personal correspondence). CAVE DESCRIPTION 2008: Dr. Harries, Daniel B (2008.04.22 personal correspondence: Re: Odds & ends): … went back through paperwork to see … the horizontal cave that I visited in 2002 (Krem Umpyrjaw) … I had a vague memory of a relatively small entrance that opened out into larger passages and chambers. But the description (presumably from Mark) in your Cave Registry makes no mention of chambers on the scale of those described [from –>Lakadong cave]. Also … the wet nature of the entrance. CAVE CONTENTS: Most cave passages are floored with fluid sand or muddy sand but, in places, with compcted, rounded pebbles. Many stalactites (speleothems) on the ceilings. Slopes with crystalline flowstone and small gours (rimstone dams). Areas near surface are characterised by sandstone boulder breakdown. PROSPECTS: No obvious leads (Brown, M. W. 2002.02.23 Mss). CAVE LIFE: Several bats (Chiroptera: Microchiroptera: Hipposideros?), many large Heteropoda spiders, many brown cave crickets (note 3). Shrimps seen in pools. Pale millipedes, white cockroach. Footprints of large rats throughout the cave. Snot Gobblers (larval stage of fungus gnats, Diptera: Mycetophilidae) are common. Small frog and a few snails were seen near the surface. There was a bit of jaw with carnivore teeth and it was too large to be anything other than a bear. The entrance of this cave is a wide relatively low arch -- the main way on is through a large pool of water with low ceiling and on the right hand side of the arch (facing the entrance). On the left side of the arch a short dry passage leads to a T–junctionand the passage soon becomes to tight in either branch of the -T-. The bear bones were in the right hand branch of the -T- (facing in). …I was in no doubt it was a bear … (Harries, D B 2002.06.10 personal correspondence).and the passage soon becomes to tight in either branch of the -T-. The bear bones were in the right hand branch of the -T- (facing in). …I was in no doubt it was a bear … (Harries, D B 2002.06.10 personal correspondence).