not long ago, having published two narratives of voyages in the pacific, which, in many quarters, were received with incredulity, the thought occurred to me, of indeed writing a romance of polynesian adventure, and publishing it as such; to see whether, the fiction might not, possibly, be received for a verity: in some degree the reverse of my previous experience.

this thought was the germ of others, which have resulted in mardi. new york, january, 1849.