Secret Tunnels (Nutmeg Publications)
The legend of the tunnel is believed to have run from St. Paul’s Hill to St. John’s Hill. The opening of the tunnel is said to have been found inside Malacca’s old gateway.
It seems improbable that a tunnel can exist from Banda Hilir to St. John's Fort. According to the Portuguese era maps of Malacca drawn by Manuel Godinho de Erédia, the area between St. Paul’s Hill and St. John’s Hill was covered by a swamp. There also was the small stream of "Ayer Lele" that flowed from Bukit Cina down to the shore at Banda Hilir.
It would seem unlikely that the early occupants of Malacca would have been able to built a tunnel in that area.
According to the book "Legends of the Secret Tunnels of Malacca" there were actually legends of 3 different tunnels under Malacca.
John Cameron, in his book published in 1865, reported that “when opening out a subterranean passage at the foot of the hill (i.e. St. Paul's Hill), two cases of ancient cutlasses were found” in Malacca.
Rev. Fr. Georg Schurhammer wrote in 1934 that there were “underground caves of the actual church built by the Portuguese” but postulated that “those subterranean orifices could have been underground cellars that existed when the palace of the Malacca Sultans once stood there.”
Rev. Fr. Rene Cardon was so confident of the existence of an underground tunnel that he wrote in 1936 saying “at least a subterranean passage under St. Paul’s Hill is not a myth but a proved fact” and he stated that “subways were opened for more strategic purposes.”
Even Munshi Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir wrote that “there was also a door giving direct access to the river” from the Stadthuys.
Although many, in the past, have been convinced that there were hidden tunnels under Malacca and there were various attempts to undercover its secret, no hard evidence of those illusive tunnels have been found till this day.
Maybe one day, historic Malacca might just decide to give up its best kept secret and we will find the actual tunnels under Malacca. Until that day comes, it still remains a mystery and a legend.
