The Hot Springs of Ulu Jelai. 



By A. D. Machado. 



Having recently occasion to visit the extreme Ulu of the 

 Jelai district, Pahang, in connection with certain prospecting 

 operations which I was then undertaking for the Malayan (Pa- 

 hang) Exploration Co., I heard from Sakai aborigines of the ex- 

 istence of hot springs in this neighbourhood. These springs I 

 found to be situated on one of the spurs of the main range of hills 

 dividing Pahang from Perak, about Latitude 4" 20 ' N., and Long- 

 itude 101° 30' E. Our Sakai guide, who visited this spot ten or 

 more years ago, described the phenomenon as one eruptive foun- 

 tain of hot water and steam — the water, according to him, ascend- 

 ing- to a considerable height, a true Geyser in fact. I saw quite a 

 different thing. I found seven non- eruptive springs of hot water 

 and steam, the former flowing over sloping terraces or basins of 

 granitic boulders, till finally they joined on to a stream called 

 the Cha-ang, which in turn drained into the Jelai. If the state- 

 ment of the Sakai is credible, and 1 have no reason to disbelieve 

 him, there has evidently been a change in the structure of these 

 springs, within the short space of ten years, a very short geolog- 

 ical epoch indeed. The usual characteristic sulphurous odour 

 pervaded this place ; those curiously fretted rims of the boulders 

 over which the water flowed, due doubtless to the deposition of 

 Silica, sulphur, etc-, are also noticeable here. Wild animals 

 elephants, rhinoceri, deer, etc., visit this spot periodically, judg 

 ing by their old and fresh tracks, probably for their saline pro 

 perries, while the Sakais hold this place in great awe and venera 

 tion. They seemed quite unable to account for this phenomenon 

 all the explanation they eould give being that they thought it 

 was the work of " hantus." These springs are, in their geolog- 

 ical formation, similar to those visited by me in Maliwun, 

 Lower Burma, in Renong, Siamese Malaya, and in other parts 

 of the Malay Peninsula ; though, in point of size and importance, 



