Chapter 12 Summary

Jim continues with his story, resuming at the point where the Avondale picked them up, just before sunset. The crew tells their story, but Jim remains silent throughout. Marlow reveals to the reader that at nine o'clock the next morning, A French gunboat bound for home from Réunion discovered the Patna, listing dangerously, but having not yet sunk and sent two officers onboard. Marlow recalls how he came to hear of this particular part of the story from an elderly French lieutenant he had come across in Sydney, who was, it turns out, one of the boarding officers.

The Frenchmen did not understand enough English to ascertain exactly what had happened from those onboard but towed the Patna to safety nonetheless. The Frenchman admitted that throughout the journey, they had stationed two quartermasters on board the Patna in order to cut loose...