The prisoners who survive the storm no longer have the strength to attack. Kunta sees the look of death on many who are around him. Still, Kunta and the others are now left up on deck for a long period of time, for even the white men have fallen ill under the strain and in the storms. The sun makes Kunta feel a little bit better.

After the men are forced back into the hold, the first of two horrible sicknesses grips the ship: fever, coughing, swollen glands, and night sweats. More people die and are thrown overboard. More medicine is given. Those who give strength to other men, fostering communication, die. There is no more hope. Even Kunta's shacklemate passes away and lies rigid beside Kunta.

Upon his next trip to the deck, Kunta is disturbed to find that the sickness has taken half of the women and children as well. The white men hobble about weakly, giving meager medicine to those affected. The men discover the slatee helper above deck. He jumps overboard, and the toubob allow even their traitorous helper to plunge to his death.

Because of the original attack when one man killed two toubob, the white men are absolutely terrified of Kunta and the remaining men. The white men clutch their guns and jump at every movement. However, just like all of the other men with him, Kunta Kinte is no longer concerned with killing the toubob. He is too weak himself to worry about such things. He is now mainly concerned with eating the disgusting food forced on him and staying alive. Even while up on deck, Kunta simply lies down and closes his eyes.

The second, and worst, sickness now overtakes the ship: the sickness called "the bloody flux," where the body eliminates only blood and pus while falling into fits of hallucinations. A new, even more foul stench alarms the toubob who try to stop the spread of the disease. Alas, it grips the entire ship.

Kunta, as well as almost everyone else on the ship, is no longer able to walk. The men have to be dragged to the deck. More and more dead bodies are thrown overboard while Kunta has visions of old Nyo Boto and her stories.

It is at this point that the wind dies down and the ship can go no farther for a long time. Kunta, finally being forced back within the hold, hallucinates about his family and Juffure and the river and the Gambia in general. When on deck, the men are so sick that they are washed with sponges instead of the usual rough brushes. One older woman is finally allowed to soothe the younger men who lie dying on the deck. It gets so bad for Kunta that he can no longer even move his hands to eat.

Finally, the winds begin to blow again and the ship is taken on its last leg of the journey. Kunta, up on deck at this time, sees land, but feels no joy whatsoever. The trip is over, but Kunta admits "that whatever came next was going to be yet worse."