Langdon, John "The Girls of Tongatabu"

South Pacific wartime conditions have isolated the British-controlled island of "Tongatabu" in this comic short story so the appearance of an American freighter seems to be good news for both the ship's women-hungry crew and the bumboat operators and "easy women" of the island. Aboard the unnamed vessel old timer Swede ("the four-to-eight oiler") regales newbie crewman "Samish the scullion" with tall tales of licentious island living ("the gals drag you into the bushes here," he tells the incredulous youngster). Alas, British officials decree no shore leave. And though the crew contrives to smuggle some women aboard via the ubiquitous, constantly circling bumboats, their efforts come to naught. And gullible Samish? Well he seems to have at least learned a thing or two about tale telling from Swede: we last see Samish writing a letter to his younger brother, extolling the free love atmosphere he claims to have encountered with the women of Tongatabu!