There is also a resemblance in their features.

They are brother and sister.
The fourth white, who lies dead in the bottom of the boat, is also dressed in seaman's clothes, and has evidently in his lifetime been a common sailor.
It is but a short time since the breath departed from his body; and judging by the appearance of the others, it may not be long before they will all follow him into another world.

How weak and emaciated they appear, as if in the last stage of starvation! The boy and girl lie along the stern-sheets, with wasted arms, embracing each other.

The tall man sits on one of the benches, gazing mechanically upon the corpse at his feet; while the other three also have their eyes upon it, though with very different expressions.

That upon the face of the Irishman is of sadness, as if for the loss of an old shipmate; the Malay looks on with the impassive tranquillity peculiar to his race; while in the sunken orbs of the nondescript can be detected a look that speaks of a horrible craving--the craving of cannibalism.
The scene described, and the circumstances which have led to it, call for explanation.