Kunta wakes up in the cargo hold of a ship, bound with chains to men on either side of him. The smell disgusts Kunta, and he vomits. He realizes that he is in a small space, too short for him to lean up.

He remembers that after the slatees and toubobs bound him and knocked him out, they brought him to a clearing. Two new toubobs arrived, and the older man inspected the captives. The captives were branded with the mark LL on their backs. Kunta tried to escape twice, and both times he was beaten and bound further.

Everyone in the hold can feel that the ship is setting out to sea. Kunta realizes he needs to eat so he can fight the toubobs when he gets a chance. One of the captives on the shelf below Kunta speaks to the toubobs in the toubob language, and Kunta and the other captives realize he must be a slatee. Those tied to the slatee call him a traitor and kill him. The toubobs discover the body, remove him, then return to beat the men. After the toubobs leave, an elder in the hold yells that they need to act as one village.