Hounding Tourists

Tahiti Accused of Hounding Tourists More About the Frost Case

THE report on page 88 of this issue, of the Affair Frost, which caused a teacup-storm in Papeete, seems to bear only a slight resemblance to the story told me recently, in Suva, by the brothers themselves.

Ron and Don Frost, in their 30-ft yacht Axelle, are now in Fiji prior to sailing on the last lap of their

journey to New Zealand. They are migrating to the Dominion from the UK the hard way. When they get there they expect to sell Axelle and become farmers.

Their version of their Papeete ad venture is substantiated by Mrs.

Russel Foreman, who was Renne Beveridge and who, at the time the Frosts were in Tahiti, held an offi cial position with the Tahiti ad ministration and, in the line of duty, had a deal to do with tourists and visitors to the colony. She and Mr. Foreman, a well-known artist, were passengers from Papeete to Suva on the Thor in September and were married by special licence in Suva.

THE brothers say that when they ' arrived off Papeete they were < left to themselves to negotiate < the dangerous “pass,” but that, once i inside, they had to take on a pilot; who directed them to tie up along side a copra boat. They asked if 1 they could not anchor at some more i desirable spot—but no, they mustJ stay where put.

Apparently they were given litera- ture which said they must get ai permit and a clearance if they wished to leave Papeete Harboum for any of the outer islands, buW there was no indication that they\ could not move about within thee harbour.

LATER, they met a friend whoc lives some miles out of thes town —but still inside the reef! that forms Papeete Harbour. He 9 asked them to come out and anchon off his place and, as they had noo liking for their berth next the coprae boat, and as it did not entail puttings out to sea, this they decided to do.c When half way there, to them, amazement they found that thejj were being pursued madly by th©j port launch. Some argument en-j sued, during which the official! launch forced the bows of AxelleJ around and the brothers were chased back to the old anchorage.

Thereupon they were visited bye Customs men who, in an effort toe find non-existent contraband, “al-I most took the yacht to pieces.”

Later, they were charged with; some breach of harbour regulation!! —presumably, moving from their allotted mooring without permission —and fined 200 gold francs.

It seems that a “gold” franc about as much existence in fact as a British gold sovereign. It is i means of anchoring the currency in terms of gold, and ii worth at present about 11 Pacififl francs.

The Frost brothers did not pae their fine, anyway, in gold francs od in any other. An unknown benedj factor, who is interested in fosterinn the tourist business in Tahiti, paili it for them.

THIS happened in July. Tw# months later, in Suva, tW, brothers were still seethim about it. As far as one may judg! in one interview, I should say thsx they are perfectly decent youmj men, quite unlikely to run agaimn authority for the sake of it; am. that if they had, unknowingly, rur foul of some local regulation it wsv not deliberate.

No one disputes the right of tMd French administration to take sonn precautions against the beacHc comber type. But the unfavourabd. reaction of practically every tourin or visitor to Tahiti from soft cu.tr rency areas who has been hounds

)y officialdom in the post-war years :annot be written off just as an iccident.

The action of the authorities in basing these men around Papeete larbour, and then going to the ength of fining them for some riinor breach of some misunder tood law, appears to me to be sheer ysteria.

In Suva they were treated as me and respectable by both offi ialdom and private citizens. Suva Iways has a welcome for these ardy adventurers who sail around le world in little ships.

Neither does authority come down id scream at them that they must )end the equivalent of 200 dollars month in the Colony, or get out. there is some way to make them )mfortable, or to save them a lilling or two, Fiji citizens are all ir it.

When Tahiti began, after the ar, to make things difficult for sitors to that Colony, I under sod that it was in order to save e Tahitians.

I should very much like to know >w, if in the past all the de uchery of the Tahitians was done Englishmen, Australians and Jw Zealanders who only have unds, shillings and pence to end; or whether Frenchmen and

0-dollars-a-month Americans

ght not also have had some hand

it.-

Judy Tudor.