The alleged discovery of mercury in Malacca
A short note by Dr. W. Bott (F.C.S., F.G.C.S., F.P.S.) reporting on the inexplicable presence of metallic mercury in laterite from St. Paul’s Hill, Malacca, and offering speculative hypotheses for its origin (pp. 79–82).
Summary
Bott was asked to analyse a laterite sample from St. Paul’s Hill that reportedly contained metallic mercury. He confirmed the metal’s presence—collecting two ounces in about ten minutes—but found no cinnabar or sulphide in the matrix, making its primary occurrence mineralogically impossible (p. 80). He then posed a series of open questions: whether the mercury had been intentionally poured in, hidden, or accidentally spilled; whether the Dutch or Portuguese were responsible; and whether it related to gold-mining (pp. 80–81).
In a closing note, Bott cites Cameron’s Malayan India, which records Captain Playfair’s 1864 discovery at the base of the hill of forty to fifty earthenware pots containing mercury, brought there in connection with Portuguese gold-mining on Mount Ophir (pp. 81–82). He observes, however, that the recent finds were located some distance above the base, making it more likely they derive from a separate hiding place at a higher level (p. 82).