Prostitution in Overseas France were female, 20% male and 50% transsexual (known as "raerae"). When Captain Samuel Wallis discovered Tahiti in 1767, he traded with the islanders for fresh provisions. The Polynesians had no source of iron, and the women sold sex for nails. Wallis had to ban shore leave for the crew for fear of the ship collapsing as so many nails had been removed from the structure. When Captain Cook arrived in 1769, the price had risen from one nail to three nails. By the time of Cook's 3rd visit in 1774, the currency had changed from nails to European clothes and
Tahiti Trot Tahiti Trot Tahiti Trot, Op. 16, is Dmitri Shostakovich's 1927 orchestration of an arrangement of "Tea for Two" from the musical "No, No, Nanette" by Vincent Youmans. It had previously been arranged by the composer Boris Fomin (1900-1948) for inclusion in his operetta "The Career of Pierpont Blake" (Карьера Пирпойнта Блэка) in 1926, with Russian lyrics by Konstantin Podrevsky (1888-1930), who had given the new lyrics the title "Tahiti Trot." Shostakovich wrote it in response to a challenge from conductor Nikolai Malko: after the two listened to the song "Tahiti Trot" on record at Malko's house, Malko bet 100 roubles