Marlow who was lanky, loose, quietly composed in varied shades of brown robbed of every vestige of gloss, had a narrow, veiled glance, the neutral bearing and the secret irritability which go together with a predisposition to congestion of the liver.

The other, compact, broad and sturdy of limb, seemed extremely full of sound organs functioning vigorously all the time in order to keep up the brilliance of his colouring, the light curl of his coal-black hair and the lustre of his eyes, which asserted themselves roundly in an open, manly face.
Between two such organisms one would not have expected to find the slightest temperamental accord.

But I have observed that profane men living in ships like the holy men gathered together in monasteries develop traits of profound resemblance.

This must be because the service of the sea and the service of a temple are both detached from the vanities and errors of a world which follows no severe rule.

The men of the sea understand each other very well in their view of earthly things, for simplicity is a good counsellor and isolation not a bad educator.