From the Bibliophilia: 100 LIterary Postcards  collection is a quote from Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness.  Heart of Darkness  was released as a serial in 1899. It tells of the Charles Marlow, a steamer captain for a Belgian company in the African interior. It is a critique of European colonial rule in Africa. Captain Marlow is given an assignment to find an ivory trade worker named Kurtz. Kurtz works at a trading station far up the river and is suspected of "gone native."