The silence of the jungle is broken only by the ominous sound of drumming. Life on the river is brutal, and unknown threats lurk in the darkness. Marlow's mission to captain a steamer upriver into the dense interior brings him into contact with the others who haunt the forest. But his decision to hunt down the mysterious . Mr Kurtz, an ivory trader who is the subject of sinister rumours, leads him into more than just physical peril.