PREFACE
UPON my return
to the United States a few months ago, after the extraordinary series of
adventure in the South Seas and elsewhere, of which an account is given in the
following pages, accident threw me into the society of several gentlemen in
Richmond, Va., who felt deep interest in all matters relating to the regions I
had visited, and who were constantly urging it upon me, as a duty, to give my
narrative to the public. I had several reasons, however, for declining to do
so, some of which were of a nature altogether private, and concern no person
but myself; others not so much so. One consideration which deterred me was,
that, having kept no journal during a greater portion of the time in which I
was absent, I feared I should not be able to write, from mere memory, a
statement so minute and connected as to have the appearance of that truth it would really possess, barring only the
natural and unavoidable exaggeration to which all of us are prone when
detailing events which have had powerful influence in exciting the imaginative
faculties. Another reason was, that the incidents to be narrated were of a
nature so positively marvellous, that, unsupported as my assertions must
necessarily be except by the evidence of a single individual, and he a
half-breed Indian, I could only hope for belief among my family, and those of
my friends who have had reason, through life, to put faith in my veracitythe
probability being that the public at large would regard what I should put forth
as merely an impudent and ingenious fiction. A distrust in my own abilities as
a writer was, nevertheless, one of the principal causes which prevented me from
complying with the suggestions of my advisers.
Among
those gentlemen in Virginia who expressed the greatest interest in my
statement, more particularly in regard to that portion of it which related to
the Antarctic Ocean, was Mr. Poe, lately editor of the Southern Literary
Messenger, a monthly magazine, published by Mr. Thomas W. White, in the city of
Richmond. He
strongly advised me, among others, to prepare at once a full account of what I
had seen and undergone, and trust to the shrewdness and common sense of the
publicinsisting, with great plausibility, that however roughly, as regards
mere authorship, my book should be got up, its very uncouthness, if there were
any, would give it all the better chance of being received as truth.
Notwithstanding
this representation, I did not make up my mind to do as he suggested. He
afterward proposed finding that I would not stir in the matter that I should
allow him to draw up, in his own words, a narrative of the earlier portion of
my adventures, from facts afforded by myself, publishing it in the Southern
Messenger under the garb of fiction.
To this, perceiving no objection, I consented, stipulating only that my real
name should be retained. Two numbers of the pretended fiction appeared,
consequently, in the Messenger for January and February 1837, and, in order
that it might certainly be regarded as fiction, the name of Mr. Poe was affixed
to the articles in the table of contents of the magazine.
The
manner in which this ruse was received has induced me at length to undertake a
regular compilation and publication of the adventures in question; for I found
that, in spite of the air of fable which had been so ingeniously thrown around
that portion of my statement which appeared in the Messenger without altering
or distorting a single fact, the public were still not at all disposed to
receive it as fable, and several letters were sent to Mr. P.''s address
distinctly expressing a conviction to the contrary. I thence concluded that the
facts of my narrative would prove of such a nature as to carry with them
sufficient evidence of their own authenticity, and that I had consequently
little to fear on the score of popular incredulity.
This
expos being made, it will be seen at
once how much of what follows I claim to be my own writing; and it will also be
understood that no fact is misrepresented in the first few pages which were
written by Mr. Poe. Even to those readers who have not seen the Messenger, it
will be unnecessary to point out where his portion ends and my own commences;
the difference in point of style will be readily perceived.
A.
G. PYM.
New-York, July,
1838.
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