3 The New York Years (1931–1953)

84 2 The Budding Scientist
(6) San Cristobal (Makira) Island. The“France”wentintodrydockforrepairsat
Tulagi harbor and H. Hamlin stayed with her, while Mayr, Coultas and Eyerdam
left on the local steamer “Ranadi” for the island of San Cristobal (Makira) on
25 November. The Whitney Expedition had collected on this island before, but not
extensively nor in the mountains. They landed again at Kirakira, Wanoni Bay, on
the northern coast. From there they followed the Rayo River inland. On their two
days’ strenuous march they crossed this stream many times until they finally left
it and climbed a steep trail to a mountain village, Hunogaraha, consisting of six
houses at an elevation of about 1,900 feet, near the center of the island (15 miles
inland from the coast at Kira Kira; 10°30’S, 161°55,’ Times Atlas). They established
their camp in “Charlie’s house” for the next three weeks. Mayr asked the natives to
build a small shed under which they could work and eat, with a table and benches
exactly as he had become used to in New Guinea; all made from bush material.
Later on a second shed was built so that they had an eating and a working room
which was a much cleaner arrangement. From the beginning the sand flies were
tormenting everybody. They gnawed at their legs, arms, hands, neck, and faces
producing badly itching wounds. At times these flies became intolerable while they
stayed in this camp.
At Mayr’s suggestion, native hunters were hired. They knew their own district as
well as the habits of the birds and were in some respects superior to the expedition
members, particularly in the collecting of shy ground birds. The reward scale was
as follows: three desirable common birds equals one stick of tobacco (three sticks
cost one shilling); a rare bird equals one stick; a great rarity (rail, ground thrush,
owl, black hawk) equals three sticks of tobacco (or one shilling). The average good
hunter brought back birds to the value of about one shilling per day, but one of
them was so successful that they had to pay him four shillings. The natives accepted
this system quite readily and there never was one instance of ill feeling between
them. It was basically the same system of paper money which Mayr had used in
the Arfak and Saruwaget Mountains of New Guinea (pp. 58 and 71).
Mayr here again made a list of the native names of birds which he identified
with their scientific names, as specimens were brought into the camp. Having a fair
knowledge of the bird fauna of this region, he was able to describe other species
similar to the material at hand. By acquiring a working vocabulary of native bird
names he was able to guide the activities of the hunters. W. Coultas who later led
the WSSE for 6 years (1930–1935) acknowledged: “I have to thank Mayr for this
lesson which was indispensable to me in the future and added many more species
to the Whitney collections” (3 December; p. 63).
On the contrary, Rollo H. Beck seldom went up into the mountains where,
however, he sent his assistants for short stays. They probably missed rare mountain
birds of the higher altitudes. Most of his work while conducting the WSSE for 8
years was done within a day’s walk from the schooner “France.” He nearly always
returned to the ship to skin his birds and seldom camped in the forest, but also
purchased skins from local people.
After the first week in Hunogaraha the most qualified natives did essentially all
the hunting while the three expedition members stayed in camp for skinning and