The ships sailing to the Indies can be seen as a ‘contact zone’ (in the words of literary scholar Mary Louise Pratt). It is here that the Dutch passengers came into contact for the first time with colonial ‘Others’: the indigenous servants working on board the ships. This photo shows a djongos (male servant). His name is unknown: this information rarely survives. Few Europeans took an interest in the lives of the servants.
Descriptions by Dutch writers of their servants as individuals are rare. Justus van Maurik, however, is an exception to the rule. In his story ‘Uit en thuis’ (At Home and Away), he describes the staging of a ‘pantomime’ one evening on board the ship sailing to the Indies. While the audience is enjoying itself, feasting on drinks and snacks, Van Maurik turns his gaze on the indigenous servant Sariman, who is lying in the hold, dying. The following morning, Van Maurik notes how Sariman’s body is sewn into a bag and thrown into the sea, with the ship’s bell ringing out. The sight affects Van Maurik, but the other passengers never notice Sariman’s death: they are sleeping off the party.
A djongos (servant) on board the MS Marnix van St Aldegonde of the Netherlands Steamship Company (Stoomvaart Maatschappij ‘Nederland’). Photo: Th. Metz. 1931. [KITLV 40411]