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Mardi, and a Voyage Thither, Vol. 1 (of 2)

Herman Melville

Melville's first purely fictional work begins as a South Pacific adventure when an American sailor abandons his whaling vessel.

"Mardi: and a Voyage Thither" by Herman Melville is a novel. Melville's first purely fictional work begins as a South Pacific adventure when an American sailor abandons his whaling vessel.

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We are off! The courses and topsails are set: the coral-hung anchor swings from the bow: and together, the three royals are given to the breeze, that follows us out to sea like the baying of a hound. Out spreads the canvas—alow, aloft-boom-stretched, on both sides, with many a stun’ sail; till like a hawk, with pinions poised, we shadow the sea with our sails, and reelingly cleave the brine.

But whence, and whither wend ye, mariners?

We sail from Ravavai, an isle in the sea, not very far northward from the tropic of Capricorn, nor very far westward from Pitcairn’s island, where the mutineers of the Bounty settled. At Ravavai I had stepped ashore some few months previous; and now was embarked on a cruise for the whale, whose brain enlightens the world.

And from Ravavai we sail for the Gallipagos, otherwise called the Enchanted Islands, by reason of the many wild currents and eddies there met.

Now, round about those isles, which Dampier once trod, where the Spanish bucaniers once hived their gold moidores, the Cachalot, or sperm whale, at certain seasons abounds.

Contents

  1. 01Preface
  2. 02Mardi
  3. 03Chapter I. Foot In Stirrup
  4. 04Chapter II. A Calm
  5. 05Chapter III. A King For A Comrade
  6. 06Chapter IV. A Chat In The Clouds
  7. 07Chapter V. Seats Secured And Portmanteaus Packed
  8. 08Chapter VI. Eight Bells
  9. 09Chapter VII. A Pause
  10. 10Chapter VIII. They Push Off, Velis Et Remis
  11. 11Chapter IX. The Watery World Is All Before Them
  12. 12Chapter X. They Arrange Their Canopies And Lounges, And Try To Make Things Comfortable
  13. 13Chapter XI. Jarl Afflicted With The Lockjaw
  14. 14Chapter XII. More About Being In An Open Boat
  15. 15Chapter XIII. Of The Chondropterygii, And Other Uncouth Hordes Infesting The South Seas
  16. 16Chapter XIV. Jarl’s Misgivings
  17. 17Chapter XV. A Stitch In Time Saves Nine
  18. 18Chapter XVI. They Are Becalmed
  19. 19Chapter XVII. In High Spirits, They Push On For The Terra Incognita
  20. 20Chapter XVIII. My Lord Shark And His Pages
  21. 21Chapter XIX. Who Goes There?
  22. 22Chapter XX. Noises And Portents
  23. 23Chapter XXI. Man Ho!
  24. 24Chapter XXII. What Befel The Brigantine At The Pearl Shell Islands
  25. 25Chapter XXIII. Sailing From The Island They Pillage The Cabin
  26. 26Chapter XXIV. Dedicated To The College Of Physicians And Surgeons
  27. 27Chapter XXV. Peril A Peace-Maker
  28. 28Chapter XXVI. Containing A Pennyweight Of Philosophy
  29. 29Chapter XXVII. In Which The Past History Of The Parki Is Concluded
  30. 30Chapter XXVIII. Suspicions Laid, And Something About The Calmuc
  31. 31Chapter XXIX. What They Lighted Upon In Further Searching The Craft, And The Resolution They Came To
  32. 32Chapter XXX. Hints For A Full Length Of Samoa
  33. 33Chapter XXXI. Rovings Alow And Aloft
  34. 34Chapter XXXII. Xiphius Platypterus
  35. 35Chapter XXXIII. Otard
  36. 36Chapter XXXIV. How They Steered On Their Way
  37. 37Chapter XXXV. Ah, Annatoo!
  38. 38Chapter XXXVI. The Parki Gives Up The Ghost
  39. 39Chapter XXXVII. Once More They Take To The Chamois
  40. 40Chapter XXXVIII. The Sea On Fire
  41. 41Chapter XXXIX. They Fall In With Strangers
  42. 42Chapter XL. Sire And Sons
  43. 43Chapter XLI. A Fray
  44. 44Chapter XLII. Remorse
  45. 45Chapter XLIII. The Tent Entered
  46. 46Chapter XLIV. Away!
  47. 47Chapter XLV. Reminiscences
  48. 48Chapter XLVI. The Chamois With A Roving Commission
  49. 49Chapter XLVII. Yillah, Jarl, And Samoa
  50. 50Chapter XLVIII. Something Under The Surface
  51. 51Chapter XLIX. Yillah
  52. 52Chapter L. Yillah In Ardair
  53. 53Chapter LI. The Dream Begins To Fade
  54. 54Chapter LII. World Ho!
  55. 55Chapter LIII. The Chamois Ashore
  56. 56Chapter LIV. A Gentleman From The Sun
  57. 57Chapter LV. Tiffin In A Temple
  58. 58Chapter LVI. King Media A Host
  59. 59Chapter LVII. Taji Takes Counsel With Himself
  60. 60Chapter LVIII. Mardi By Night And Yillah By Day

About this edition

Author
Herman Melville
Era
Modern (c. 1800–1945)
Reading level
Intermediate: some philosophy helps
Formats
EPUB, PDF
Length
364 pages
This edition
Modern Philosophers