The government had more faith in the exploration of unknown territory because the explorers had better navigational tools thus were better prepared and equipped
This passage is an example of indirect characterization through dialogue. I the conversation there is not much content to characterize Pat and Terrence but the audience can get to understand some things about each one's personality. The audience can infer that Terrence is more direct and extrovert while Pat is shy and introvert but there are not as many clues to be sure about this inferences.
