The original Kurtz had been educated partly in England, and-as he was good enough to say himself-his sympathies were in the right place. His mother was half-English, his father was half-French. All Europe contributed to the making of Kurtz; and by and bye I learned that, most appropriately, the International Society for the Suppression of Savage Customs had entrusted him with the making of a report, for its future guidance. And he had written it to. I’ve seen it. It was eloquent, vibrating with eloquence, but too high strung. I think. Seventeen pages of close writing he had found time for. But this must have been before his-let us say, nerves went wrong and caused him to preside at certain midnight dances ending with unspeakable rites, which- as far as I reluctantly gathered from what I heard at various times-were offered to him-do you understand?
Joseph Conrad, “Heart of Darkness”, 1899
