Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
will use it in the most extravagant manner, without thought for the
morrow; and they are quite as reckless with their other stores.
17
The voyagers sighted land after twenty-eight days and on 2
December went ashore in Tahiti. A few days previously Annie had
had herself rowed over to a small island to meet the local people but
Tom had been very anxious and insisted on her taking a posse of
armed men with her (he did not accompany her himself). However,
Tahiti was a French protectorate with a sizeable expatriate popula-
tion and, therefore, both safe and respectable.
In fact, the Brasseys fell in love with Tahiti. It had just that mix-
ture of ideal climate, colour, native charm and European civilisation
to appeal to them. Even when they made a safari to the interior they
found their sophisticated tastes well catered for. They passed the
night at the tiny Hoôtel de l'Isthme, run by two retired French sailors:
The dinner itself really deserved a detailed description, if only
to show that one may make the tour of Tahiti without necessarily
having to rough it in the matter of food. We had crayfish and salad
as a preliminary, and next, an excellent soup followed by delicious
little oysters, that cling to the boughs and roots of the guava and
mangrove trees overhanging the sea. Then came a large fish, name
unknown, the inevitable
bouilli
and cabbage,
cotelettes aux pommes,
biftek aux champignons
, succeeded by crabs and other shellfish, in-
cluding
wurrali
, a delicate-flavoured kind of lobster, an
omelette aux
abricots
, and dessert of tropical fruits. We were also supplied with
good wine, both red and white, and bottled beer.
Unfortunately, 'bed' did not reach the same standard as 'board':
The heat in the night was suffocating, and soon after twelve
o'clock we both woke up, feeling half-stifled . . . In the moonlight I
