"The steamer toiled along slowly on the edge of a black and incomprehensible frenzy. The prehistoric man was cursing us, praying to us, welcoming us—who could tell?” (Conrad 52).
The crew has little if any knowledge of the wilderness in this part of Africa, and are plunging blindly into it. The shore is “black and incomprehensible” as the crew travels along, unable to see what is going on. The description of the native man adds to the paradoxical nature of the natives, indeed, of most characters and concepts in the story; they seem at times friendly, wholesome, worthy, and at others hollow, shallow, and deceitful.
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