With the author's rescue from what Dr. T. M. Coan has styled his
'anxious paradise,' 'Typee' ends, and its sequel, 'Omoo,' begins.
Here, again, it seems wisest to leave the remaining adventures in
the South Seas to the reader's own discovery, simply stating
that, after a sojourn at the Society Islands, Melville shipped
for Honolulu. There he remained for four months, employed as a
clerk. He joined the crew of the American frigate United States,
which reached Boston, stopping on the way at one of the Peruvian
ports, in October of 1844. Once more was a narrative of his
experiences to be preserved in 'White Jacket; or, the World in a
Man-of-War.' Thus, of Melville's four most important books,
three, 'Typee,' 'Omoo,' and 'White-Jacket,' are directly auto
biographical, and 'Moby Dick' is partially so; while the less
important 'Redburn' is between the two classes in this respect.
Melville's other prose works, as will be shown, were, with some
exceptions, unsuccessful efforts at creative romance.

Whether our author entered on his whaling adventures in the South
Seas with a determination to make them available for literary
purposes, may never be certainly known. There was no such
elaborate announcement or advance preparation as in some later
cases. I am inclined to believe that the literary prospect was
an after-thought, and that this insured a freshness and
enthusiasm of style not otherwise to be attained. Returning to
his mother's home at Lansingburg, Melville soon began the writing
of 'Typee,' which was completed by the autumn of 1845. Shortly
after this his older brother, Gansevoort Melville, sailed for
England as secretary of legation to Ambassador McLane, and the
manuscript was intrusted to Gansevoort for submission to John
Murray. Its immediate acceptance and publication followed in