3 The New York Years (1931–1953)

80 2 The Budding Scientist
were unanimous that cats had exterminated the bird, Hamlin insisted that we stay
weeks and weeks longer, a complete waste of time. At the same time he greatly
admired me for my knowledge of birds, and when the time came for me to return
to Germany he did everything he could to persuade me to stay; if I were to leave,
he would also, he said (but this was about 8 months later).
The incompetent running of the expedition was not the only shock to me. The
boat was the other. The ‘France’ was not a luxury expedition ship, but a converted
copra carrier. Her greatest virtue was her sea worthiness. After I had left, she stood
a taifun (cyclone) in Micronesia, which blew her a thousand miles out of her way.
But she did not sink. Comfort she had none. There was not even a working flush
toilet on board. Unless prevented by weather we had to sit on the railing to do our
daily business. Whenever it was sunny, it became insufferably hot below deck and
we had to sleep on top. But this being the tropics there was a downpour virtually
every night and we got soaked. There was an awning, but it was old and leaked so
that it was not of much help.
The ship was heaven for cockroaches, they bred in the bilge but at night crawled
and flew all over the cabin and in large numbers. I don’t know how often in my
sleep I hit my face by reflex, when a cockroach crawled over it, while I slept, and
squashed it on my face; not a pleasant experience.
Food was terrible. Usually rice and some canned goods, like canned Alaskan
salmon (at that time the cheapest canned good) or corned beef. Hardly ever, except
when we were on land, fresh fruit or vegetables; no dessert.
What I did enjoy was that I had to work like a sailor, hoisting the sail, heaving
up the anchor, etc. There was, of course, no machinery for such tasks. I also had to
take my regular turns at the wheel.
Ultimately, it was my participation on the WSSE that permitted me to place my
foot, so to speak, in the door to America. But I was a rather disappointed young
man in the first months after joining the ‘France.’ The situation was aggravated by
a jaw operation and dengue fever.
The trip to the highest peak of Choiseul and later work on San Cristobal and
Malaita eventually made me forget my disappointments. Lack of any news from
home, of course, had made matters worse.”
When collecting in the Buin region with Hamlin in mid-July for a week, Mayr
suffered from dengue fever and in Kieta, on 28 July, a wisdom tooth was removed
which had bothered him for several weeks. In order to get at it, the dentist extracted
also the healthy neighboring tooth. In the process he broke off a piece of the upper
jaw bone too, very painful. Mayr was unable to speak or eat for a while with his
mouth half closed by the swelling and he felt most miserable.
During July and August 1929 H. Hamlin and E. Mayr were the only expedition
members but they were joined in Kieta on 30 August by W. Coultas and W. Eyerdam
who had arrived from the States (Fig. 2.14). William F. Coultas was about the
age of Ernst Mayr and a professional collector. He had a bachelor degree from
Iowa State University and retired later to a small farm in the Midwest which
he had bought from his savings. Tragically, it later burned down together with
his ethnographical collections and diaries. Walter Eyerdam (1892–1974) was also