One of the black crew members says that the attackers should be handed over to them and eaten. Marlow wonders why he and the other whites have not been eaten. The Manager insincerely worries that something might have happened to Kurtz. Marlow does not believe there will be an attack the jungle and fog seem impenetrable. No one believes him.
Some men go and investigate the shore.
The helmsman on the ship panics and does not steer properly. The crew is firing rifles into the bushes. A black man is shot and lays at Marlow's feet. He tries to talk and dies before he can get any words out. Marlow supposes that Kurtz has perished in this attack.