Item 22-23 - Two letters from Robert Leonard

Papetee - Tahiti - Describes his arrival on a Quantas flight from Los Angeles, immediately leaving for Moorea Island, describes the cost of a hut there and hotel in Papeete, the people, the impact of the French on Papeete; tells of an American geologist who described buying a camel to cross a desert, which ended disastrously; crashes Club Med on Moorea and gets thrown out ('police called & all that'); Moorea would be a paradise but for the French. A second letter of the same date reports he is still in Papeete; describes riding in what they call 'Le Truck'; describes the Tahitian people and weather; almost fell off a boat but was saved by a 7 ft tall Tahitian man and now his wrist hurts; the Hotel Ping-Pong is right out of a Somerset Maugham short story.