The boy frowns for a moment, then offers him a beguiling and implausible grin. Drax grabs the boy by the hair and punches him, then punches him again and again—two, three, four times fast without hesitation or compunction—until Drax's knuckles are warm and dark with blood and the boy is slumped, limp and unconscious. Drax turns him over and pulls down his britches. There is no pleasure in the act and no relief, a fact which only increases its ferocity.
-- Henry Drax (chapter 1 paragraph 5-6)

Importance: This quotation illustrates how criminally depraved Drax is, long before he sets sail on The Volunteer where he rapes and kills another young crew member.

Out on the ice, Drax works alone, moving back and forth, patient and relentless from one group [of seals) to the next, shooting and clubbing them as he goes. The young ones shriek at him and try to addle away but are too...
-- Henry Drax (chapter 5 paragraph 1)