Springs

The thermal springs of the Malay Peninsula, documented primarily in Selangor, Malacca, and Pahang, constitute a class of simple thermal waters of non-volcanic origin, characterised by high temperatures, low dissolved mineral content, and the presence of trace hydrogen sulphide. First systematically investigated by colonial-era chemists and geologists, these springs were found to range in temperature from approximately 95° to 185° Fahrenheit, to emerge from granitic formations, and to possess therapeutic properties attributed chiefly to their heat and sulphurous content rather than to any significant mineral load [1, pp. 43–45]. Their distribution across the peninsula, from the padi swamps of Malacca to the jungle spurs of Pahang, and their use by Malay and Chinese communities for bathing, particularly in the treatment of skin diseases, established them as objects of both scientific inquiry and local cultural practice [1, pp. 58–59], [2, p. 263].

Geological Setting and Physical Characteristics

The springs examined by Dr. W. Bott in 1891 across Selangor and Malacca all belong to the class of “simple thermal waters,” a designation reflecting their high temperature but negligible dissolved mineral matter [1, p. 44]. The immediate and obvious surroundings of every spring he visited consisted of old granitic formations; in cases where the springs lay in padi swamps, granite was found beneath the mud surface [1, p. 44]. In addition to common and porphyritic granite, the surrounding geology included quartz as rock and pebbles, diorite, gneiss, and greissen, a variety of granite practically free from felspar which often forms the matrix of tin lodes; limestone was not apparent in any of the Selangor springs he personally examined [1, p. 44].

The springs themselves appeared as pools or puddles of hot water, varying in area from one to three or more square yards, and were generally fed by two or more distinct streams or jets issuing from holes and crevices in the basin floor [1, p. 44]. Bubbles of gas emerged continually with these jets, consisting essentially of nitrogen and carbon dioxide with a small quantity of hydrogen sulphide and traces of hydrogen and marsh gas [1, p. 44]. The beds of the springs consisted of granitic rock more or less decomposed on the surface and coated with silicious sinter, while the floor was covered with loose vegetable and mineral debris in the form of granular sediment or soft fibrous and gelatinous masses [1, pp. 44–45]. These organic accumulations, ranging in colour from green to bright orange-red, were found on microscopical examination to consist of decayed vegetable matter that had undergone decomposition at comparatively high temperature, representing a dense magma of cells of most variable shape [1, p. 45]. In several specimens from Ulu Klang and Setapak, a distinct form of algae was identified, and similar specimens had reportedly been found in the Ayer Panas water in Malacca and sent to the British Museum for examination, though this had led to no further results [1, p. 45].

Temperatures recorded by Bott ranged from approximately 100° to 185° Fahrenheit in Selangor and 95° to 130° Fahrenheit in Malacca, with the Ulu Klang spring registering the highest at 83–84° Centigrade (181–183° Fahrenheit) [1, pp. 45]. Within each spring, temperature varied according to distance from the feeders, being highest at the point where they entered [1, p. 45]. At the spring at Cherana Puteh in Malacca, Bott observed that within distances of a foot or even six inches the temperature varied considerably, a fact he illustrated with a sketch marking the positions of the feeders or “eyes” of the spring [1, p. 54].

The chemical analyses revealed that total dissolved solids were low across all springs, ranging from approximately 15.4 grains per gallon at Dusun Tua to 21.95 grains per gallon at Ulu Klang, with silica as the single largest dissolved constituent in every case [1, pp. 46–52]. The gases escaping from the springs were composed predominantly of nitrogen (95.85 to 98.1 per cent by volume) and carbon dioxide (1.9 to 3.5 per cent), with hydrogen sulphide at 0.3 to 0.7 per cent and traces of hydrogen and marsh gas [1, pp. 46–53]. The air in the immediate vicinity of the springs was found to be of normal composition though free from active oxygen or ozone, and to contain traces of hydrogen sulphide and rather more than the normal amount of carbonic acid and ammonia [1, p. 45].

The average composition of the granitic rock surrounding the Ulu Klang spring, derived from six analyses, was 74.30 per cent silica, 14.20 per cent alumina, 5.10 per cent alkalis, 3.00 per cent lime, 0.60 per cent magnesia, 1.10 per cent iron taken as ferric oxide, and 1.70 per cent moisture, organic matter, manganese, and other constituents [1, p. 53]. Tin ore in varying though small quantities was found disseminated through the mass of some of the rock specimens, while gold was absent in all samples except a piece of diorite from Ulu Klang which contained a quantity corresponding to three-quarters of an ounce to the ton, a result Bott regarded as a purely sporadic occurrence [1, pp. 53–54].

Therapeutic Value and Local Use

Bott classified the springs as simple thermal waters containing but an insignificant amount of solid matter excepting silica, which he noted had but little physiological action [1, p. 58]. However, all the springs contained hydrogen sulphide, and although the quantity present was sufficient to warrant their being classed with “sulphurous waters” in the strict sense, it sufficed to impart to them a distinct therapeutic value [1, p. 58]. In addition to this, their temperature was an important item considered medicinally; Bott cited a number of well-known European springs, including Matlock, Buxton, Wildbad, and Aix-en-Provence, which owed their virtues apparently to temperature alone and contained as little or less mineral matter than the Selangor springs [1, p. 58].

Among the Selangor springs, Ulu Klang ranked first as possessing the highest temperature and containing the most hydrogen sulphide, followed in order of merit by Setapak, Dusun Tua, Semunieh, and Gombak, with Ulu Selangor probably last in the list [1, p. 58]. The Ulu Klang and Setapak waters contained 0.035 and 0.034 parts of hydrogen sulphide per 10,000 parts of water respectively, which Bott noted represented a fair fraction of the average amount found in cold sulphurous springs (0.090 parts per 10,000), combined with a high temperature [1, p. 59]. He recommended both for bathing or drinking purposes, anticipating a stimulating and diaphoretic action valuable in chronic skin diseases and rheumatism, chlorosis, amenorrhoea, secondary syphilis, and dyspepsia due to disordered action of the liver [1, p. 59]. He advised that the water should be used on the spot and as nearly at the temperature of the spring as could be found endurable, as bottling would result in the loss of almost all its volatile and valuable constituents by evaporation and subsequent decomposition [1, p. 59].

Bott observed that the Malays and Chinese were well aware of the virtues of these springs, and particularly of their specific action in skin diseases, and that they bathed in them freely [1, p. 59]. He was informed that the Chinese more or less monopolised some springs while the Malays used others, and that as far as he could learn they never drank the water [1, p. 59]. In Malacca, the springs at Ayer Panas and Alor Gajah had been properly set for bathing purposes, though Bott could say nothing about their original condition and appearance [1, p. 54].

Distribution Beyond Selangor and Malacca

The thermal springs of the peninsula were not confined to the two states examined by Bott. In 1900, A. D. Machado, during prospecting work for the Malayan (Pahang) Exploration Company, reported finding seven non-eruptive hot springs on a spur of the main range dividing Pahang from Perak, at approximately 4°20′ N, 101°30′ E [2, p. 263]. The water and steam from these springs flowed over granitic boulders into the Cha-ang stream, a tributary of the Jelai [2, p. 263]. Machado noted a sulphurous odour and silica and sulphur deposits on the boulder rims, and observed that wild animals were drawn to the springs by their saline properties [2, p. 263]. He recorded a discrepancy with his Sakai guide’s earlier account of a single eruptive geyser-like fountain at the same location, suggesting a structural change within roughly ten years [2, p. 263]. Machado compared the geological formation of these springs to those at Maliwun in Lower Burma, Renong in Siamese Malaya, and Ojigoku in Hakone, Japan [2, pp. 263–264].

The Ulu Jelai district itself was alienated by the Pahang Government to the Toh Raja Jelai, was inhabited almost exclusively by Sakais who cultivated hill paddy and tapioca, and was noted as rich in rattans, agarwood, gutta, gold, and tin ore [2, p. 264].

Research and Documentation

The investigation of thermal springs in the Malay Peninsula within the Society’s literature was initiated by Bott’s comprehensive chemical and geological survey of 1891, which established the baseline for all subsequent discussion [1]. Bott’s work was characterised by systematic field observation and laboratory analysis, and it served the administrative and scientific interests of the colonial establishment, with its therapeutic recommendations and suggestions for developing the springs for bathing reflecting a public-health and economic-development framing [1, pp. 58–59]. His article also contained a pointed refutation of a paper by Stanislas Meunier, published in the Comptes Rendus, which had described the analysis of two bottles of water brought from Ayer Panas and Cheras by J. Errington de la Croix [1, pp. 60–62]. Meunier had drawn the remarkable conclusion that a mineral found in the spring was a kind of opal similar to geyserite but containing tin as a peculiar and characteristic constituent, and that this represented the first time tin had been found in the act of deposition from its mother liquor, which he regarded as an important contribution to the theory of tin ore formation [1, p. 61]. Bott demonstrated that the substance in question was common siliceous sinter, almost without exception met in all hot springs, and that the trace tin it contained was inherited from the host granite, which was well known to carry such traces [1, pp. 61–62]. He further showed that Meunier’s chemical analyses were erroneous in multiple respects, including the claimed absence of sulphates and the exaggerated chloride content, and concluded that the bold theory of tin oxide being deposited from water containing sulphuretted hydrogen was a chemical impossibility [1, pp. 61–62].

The question of the ultimate origin of the springs remained unresolved in Bott’s account. He noted that one was accustomed to associate hot springs with volcanic action, yet these springs occurred in parts far distant from any known volcanic belt, and that no basalt and no minerals indicative of direct volcanic action were to be found in the neighbourhood [1, p. 60]. He acknowledged that the composition of the water was in some respects similar to that ejected by the geysers of Iceland, but that the analogy ended there, and that beyond conjectures pure and simple he could pronounce no opinion as to whether the springs derived from direct volcanic action or simple intra-terrestrial heat [1, p. 60]. He expressed the hope of following up the subject later, but no such follow-up appears in the Society’s records.

Machado’s brief field note of 1900 extended the geographical scope of the documentation to Pahang and introduced a comparative dimension, linking the Ulu Jelai springs to analogous formations in Lower Burma, Siamese Malaya, and Japan [2, pp. 263–264]. His observation of a structural change in the spring system over roughly a decade, from a single eruptive fountain to seven non-eruptive springs, raised questions about the dynamism of these features that neither Bott nor subsequent contributors addressed [2, p. 263]. The overall body of documentation thus remains limited in both temporal depth and geographical coverage, with the Selangor and Malacca springs receiving the most detailed treatment and the broader question of origin left open.

MBRAS Sources

• W. Bott (1891). The thermal springs of Selangor and Malacca. JSBRAS 24: 43–62
• A.D. Machado (1900). The hot springs of Ulu Jelai. JSBRAS 33: 263–264

References

1. W. Bott (1891). The thermal springs of Selangor and Malacca JSBRAS 24: 43–62.
2. A.D. Machado (1900). The hot springs of Ulu Jelai JSBRAS 33: 263–264.