Dear Mr. Lennes,
    If Alan Gribben can find no conclusive "evidence that Twain definitely
knew about Melville's works," that's plenty good enough for me.
    But as Alan points out, "Twain was fascinated with the South Pacific and
with sea stories," and we do know that Twain regularly corresponded with
writers who were very familiar with Melville's books. They include Robert
Louis Stevenson, Andrew Lang and Rudyard Kipling. And remember, Stevenson
and Twain were firing letters back and forth during the period when
Stevenson had settled at his Vailima estate in Samoa (1890-94). Stevenson
took Melville's preeminence as a South Seas writer so much for granted, he
wrote to his friend Charles Baxter in 1888: "I shall have a fine book of
travels, I feel sure, and will tell you more of the South Seas after very
few months than any other writer has done -- except Herman Melville
perhaps."
    Interestingly enough, Lang corresponded with both Twain and Stevenson.
And Kipling counted both Twain and Stevenson as early literary heroes.
    That's pretty much connect-the-dots literary trivia, however, and none
of it proves that Twain knew Melville's works. But there is one even more
intriguing connection. One of Twain's great good friends was poet and author
Charles Warren Stoddard, whom he met in the mid-1860s. And who introduced
Stevenson to Melville's works? A member of San Francisco's Bohemia Club,
Stoddard also was fascinated by the South Seas, living in Hawaii for four
years (1881-84). His earlier travels to Hawaii and Tahiti were published as
"South Seas Idyls" in 1873, the same year Stoddard played personal secretary
to Twain on a trip to England. Stoddard met Stevenson during the Scot's
first visit to America, 1879-80. They met at Stoddard's studio on Rincon
Hill in San Francisco, and we know that Stoddard ignited Stevenson's
profound interest in the South Seas by giving him a copy
of not only "South Seas Idyls," but of Melville's "Typee" and "Omoo."
Stevenson made frequent references to Melville after that. And if Stoddard
"pushed" Melville to Stevenson on first meeting, is it not logical to assume
that he would have suggested a Melville title or two to Twain during a
friendship that lasted for several decades?
    This all goes in the bottomless bucket of literary speculation, of
course, but it's certainly not out of the realm to at least assume that
Twain was acquainted with the type of books Melville wrote. The Stoddard
connection makes a strong case for this. For now, that may be the best we
can do for you.
   All good luck,

    Mark Dawidziak