1 JUNE 1996, Page 27

Biting Taki's bait

Sir: My fellow Englishmen will, I hope, for- give me for rising to Taki's bait (High life, 25 May), but just once in a while I feel it is necessary to reply to the jibes and taunts of southern European men. Generally the Englishman keeps quiet about the sexual braggadocio of Continental men, knowing it to be a result of their obvious inferiority in this respect. Indeed, as Taki points out, the bedding down is secondary to the pur- suit. My many female acquaintances assure me that this is certainly true in relation to the performance of the Continental male.

As far as their understanding of romance is concerned, they simply remain blissfully unaware of the transparency of their ver- sion of it. I understand that many women, both English and foreign, perceive Conti- nental charms to be a delicate concoction of vanity and sexual incontinence encrusted in humbug. Most Englishmen remain quiet- ly happy in the knowledge that the large majority of Continental men spend as much time indulging in solo sex as they do preen- ing themselves in front of the mirror and applying cologne as a substitute for soap. D.R. Hylton

Maggs House, 78 Queens Road, Bristol