47. Pilgrims to Jeddah

In one of my previous posts (post 25 “Mount Bromo”) I made a reference to one of the most memorable parts of my early working life, my years at sea and, more specifically, my voyages on pilgrim ships, carrying thousands of Muslim passengers to the port of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.

Recently, one of my walking friends expressed an interest in learning more about this part of my early life and his interest prompted me to share my memories of what I call my “pilgrim experience” with you, my readers. This experience took place almost 70 years ago and made such an incredible impression on me that I can still vividly remember most of the details. The voyages were made on small cargo ships, and each involved more than a thousand deck passengers travelling from Indonesia to Saudi Arabia and back to Indonesia.

One of the ships on which I sailed was the Langkoeas, (9000 brt), which had cabin accommodation for 28 passengers and deck space for 1400 pilgrims.  The total number of crew onboard was 81. Apart from the “Hofmeester” (chief steward) and myself as “Assistent Hofmeester”, we had 27 Indonesian cooks and stewards, as well as a Dutch chief cook, a 2^nd cook, a baker, a butcher and a storeman. The ship also carried two Dutch doctors and two nurses. It was 1956 and I was 19 years old.

We picked up our first deck passengers from Surabaya, in Indonesia. Almost immediately after we arrived at the port our pilgrims began to board! There were hundreds and hundreds of them. They walked slowly up the gangway of our ship and, once on board, they moved to their allocated areas below the main deck. The same thing happened in Semarang and in Tanjung Priok on Java, and later, in the port of Belawan, in North Sumatra.  The total number probably grew to somewhere between 1200 and 1400. In addition to the deck passengers, we also welcomed 28 passengers who were given cabin accommodation. All these Indonesian people were about to make the most important journey of their lives, a pilgrimage to Mecca.

From our last port in Indonesia it would take our ship 12 days to reach Jeddah in the Red Sea, the port of disembarkation. From there the pilgrims would be taken by bus to Mecca and to other holy places.

The Hajj (or Great Pilgrimage) to Mecca is obligatory for all Muslims. Each adult Muslim who is capable of doing so, must make the Hajj once in his or her lifetime. Today Indonesian Muslims use air travel, but back in 1956 most travelled there on Dutch owned cargo ships. Our ship, the Langkoeas, although I did not know it at the time, would be the very last Dutch ship to be used for the Hajj.

Once the pilgrims had stepped on board the Langkoeas, life for all of us changed completely. Canvas tarpaulins were erected in most of the exposed areas of the ship to protect the deck passengers from the sun. This gave the ship a very different look. Ropes were stretched along the deck for people to hold on to when the ship was moving and large loudspeakers were placed in several locations on the ship to broadcast the prayers and to provide daily information to the pilgrims.

The space immediately below the main deck, the “in-between” deck, was where the pilgrims slept. To have some degree of privacy, our passengers had thin ropes (like washing lines) fixed around their own spaces and they covered them with a variety of materials. Each family had their own screened- off space. They had brought all their own barang (household goods), including bedding, pots and pans and anything else they would need for the voyage.  At mealtimes we screened off an area of the main deck with ropes. At the entrance we placed a table and chair where I could sit and, as the people filed past, I stamped the ration cards with which they had been provided. They then shuffled, in long lines, past large wooden boxes filled with rice and large kettles filled with vegetables, fish and spicy sauce. Sometimes the long waves of the Indian Ocean made the ship sway or heave, which made it difficult for them to keep their balance.

The twenty or so cabin passengers had their meals in the dining room or, if they preferred it, or were seasick, they had them in their cabin. I had to be present in the dining room at every meal time, dressed in my “jasje tutup” (white high-collared uniform). The Hofmeester left it to me to be in charge and as there were certain formalities to be observed, I always felt somewhat tense until they had finished their meal and had returned to their cabins. I need not have worried. The Indonesian dining room stewards were well trained and were polite and helpful and that made things easy for me.

For the entire 12 days of the voyage the ship was a hive of activity. I was very busy all day. There were so many people to look after and so many things to do. Many bags of rice had to be brought up from the magazines to the kitchens throughout the voyage and the whole kitchen crew, as well as the Dutch storeman, had to help me with this task.

One sobering aspect of the voyages was that sometimes one or two of the pilgrims died en route and had to be buried at sea. Prior to each burial the ship’s engines would be stopped and the captain and the officers would be standing to attention in their full white uniforms. The body of the deceased would have been washed by the Muslim clerics and dressed in two white sheets, around which would be a woven mat. There would be some heavy pieces of iron attached to the feet and each body looked, according to some of the crew, like a mummy. The body was then placed on a wooden platform. After the formalities the platform was lifted on one side, to allow the body to slide off and to splash into the sea. It was always an eerie experience. What I remember most was the silence once the engines had stopped. When the burial at sea was completed, the engines would start up again and we would go back to work and would continue our voyage.

The entrance to the port of Jeddah was quite narrow, with rocks jutting out on each side, and with the wrecks of several ships clearly visible. I remember that the pilot who came on board to guide us in on my first voyage, looked like a boy. He seemed so very young. I was slightly worried when I saw him and wondered if we would make it safely into the port. But we did, of course, and, once we were alongside the wharf, our passengers disembarked. This happened very quickly. Carrying all their possessions, I saw them walking to the buses that were lined up and I couldn’t help but wonder how the frail among them would cope in the hot desert conditions that were awaiting them.

After the pilgrims had left us it was an incredible relief to have the ship return to normal and to get some rest and have some time to reflect on all that we had witnessed.

O.P.

P.S. Next Sunday we return to the peaceful environment of beautiful Sandgate and walk along the foreshore to discover some interesting creatures.