ht school and then sailed for the South Seas in 1841 on the whaler Acushnet. After an 18 month voyage he deserted the ship in the Marquesas Islands and with a companion lived for a month among the natives, who were cannibals. He escaped aboard an Australian trader, leaving it at Papeete, Tahiti, where he was imprisoned temporarily. He worked as a field laborer and then shipped to Honolulu, Hawaii, where in 1843 he enlisted as a seaman on the U.S. Navy frigate United States. After he was discharge in 1844 he began to create novels out of his experiences and to take part in the literary life of Boston and New York City.
             Melville's first five novels all achieved quick popularity. Typee which he wrote in 1846 was about the account of his stay with the cannibals. Omoo which he wrote in 1847 was based on his experiences in Polynesian Islands. Mardi which he wrote in 1849 was about romances of the South Sea Islands. Redburn which he wrote in 1849 was his first voyage based on his own first trip to sea. White-Jacket which was written in 1850 fictionalized his experiences in the navy. In 1850 Melville moved to a farm near Pittsfield, Massachusetts, where he became an inti
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