It has long been recognized that The Nigger of the ‘Narcissus’ and ‘Heart of Darkness’ (published in Youth: a Narrative; and Two Other Stories) stand out from the rest of Conrad's early work for their concentration and intensity. As my purpose in this study is not to characterize Conrad's output as a whole, but to try to show something of the intellectual power and consistency of the major phase of his creative life, I have no hesitation in confining my examination of his early writing to these two narratives. Before I begin, however, I must briefly refer to a preliminary difficulty which no student of Conrad can afford to ignore: the peculiarities of his English. The charge of over-writing which Dr Leavis has levelled at ‘Heart of Darkness’ is a just one; it also applies to The Nigger of the ‘Narcissus’. Indeed, a great many English readers have felt that Conrad's style as a whole is all too often unnaturally congested and over-wrought. It is, of course, not surprising that the English of a foreigner should in some respects be found wanting. What does require explanation, however, is that these oddities of expression should rarely inhibit the power and coherence of his meaning.