Veracruz,  and  followed  the  coast  to  Alvarado,  because  he wrote many years later, “we sailed up the ocean-like mouth of  the  river”  (Gordon,  1940).  This  is  an  apt  description  if you enter the river from the Gulf. The  quest  for  X.  maculatus  soon  came  to  an  anticli- mactic end. The current of the river was swift and the motor of  the  little  launch  was  too  weak.  The  river  meandered endlessly  and  appeared  to  follow  the  contour  of  a  pretzel. For every mile they covered in a straight line, they had to travel three. The marshes on both sides of the river seemed to extend forever. Finally they reached Cosamaloapan, but then the rains came, and they had to turn around without having seen a single platyfish. They returned to Mexico City and made the slow trip north via the Mexican Plateau as far as San Luis Potosi. There they picked up a track through the Sierra  Madre,  passing  through  Tula  (elev.  1400  m),  still today  a  rather  small,  isolated  desert  town,  to  Ciudad  Vic- toria (elev. 300 m). The section from Tula to Victoria was so horrible that Myron declared he would never make this trip  again.  On  the  way  back  the  expedition  collected  X. couchianus near Monterrey, and introduced live specimens for the first time to the United States. Although no X. macu- latus were caught, the trip was nevertheless a success. Over 100 species of fishes were collected, of which 10 were new to science  (“Introducing  Dr.  Myron  Gordon,  The  Home Aquarium Bulletin, March 5, 1935). On March 6, 1932, the model T Ford was again heading south.  Gordon  was  accompanied  by  John  Ross  and  Joe Whetzel,  sons  of  Cornell  faculty  members.  According  to Gordon  (1940),  the  great  business  depression  had  been good for the tropical fish hobby, inasmuch as people stayed at home and became interested in tropical fish keeping. The Cornell University Mexico Expedition 1932 was supported by  private  funds  from  hobbyists,  commercial  tropical  fish breeders, and the Heckscher Research Foundation at Cor- nell.  The  Shedd  Aquarium  in  Chicago  and  the  New  York Aquarium  also  promised  to  buy  exotic  fish  that  the  expe- dition  hoped  to  bring  back.  The  expedition  arrived  at  the border in Laredo on March 12th, where it was unexpectedly delayed.  Myron  had  shipped  by  Railroad  Express  Agency 120 one-gallon cans to the border, to be reshipped to vari- ous  small  Mexican  railroad  stations  near  areas  where  the expedition  hoped  to  collect  fish.  The  cans,  painted  on  the inside with asphaltum varnish, were the shipping contain- ers. A requested permit to bring the empty cans across the border free of customs duty, because they would eventually be returned to the United States, had not arrived. The cus- toms officer demanded US $1.00 per can ($12.49 in current dollars), and this was far more than Gordon could afford. Frantic  telegrams  exchanged  between  Laredo  and  Mexico City  elicited  sympathetic  advice  but  led  nowhere.  Why don’t  you  buy  goldfish,  Myron  was  told,  and  place  them into your jars? There is no duty on importing goldfish into Mexico, and your cans then become the shipping contain- ers,  which  are  not  taxed.  But  Gordon  eventually  paid.  He also complained about the price of gasoline, which was US $0.35  per  gallon  ($4.38  in  current  dollars),  and  remarked that nobody trusted Mexican gas pumps. Gasoline was first pumped  into  well-marked  cans  to  measure  accurately  the amount purchased (Figure 2). Once  beyond  Monterrey  the  spirits  of  the  expedition soared.  The  road  was  paved  now  with  macadam  or  con- sisted of packed gravel and the many streams had all been bridged.  Five  hours  later  they  arrived  in  Ciudad  Victoria. The  expedition  was  not  eager  to  drive  again  the  Victoria– Tula segment, and they had heard about a new road being built  to  Mexico  City  via  Tamazunchale.  The  more  they inquired from the locals about road conditions ahead, the more  contradictory  the  information  became.  Finally  they settled on going via Tula. They left early in the morning and arrived totally exhausted in Tula, long after nightfall, with an empty gas tank, having covered the 140 km in 15 hours. Afterwards Gordon (1940) wrote he could not understand what made him drive this route again. I presume he chose a  known  quantity,  even  if  it  was  difficult,  over  something completely  unknown.  They  experienced  every  imaginable road  hazard:  huge  rocks  strewn  across  the  track,  hidden steep ravines, axle-deep ruts, narrow mountain passes, and enormous  climbs  and  descents.  The  road  crossed  seven ranges. The remainder of the drive across the Mexican Pla- teau  to  Mexico  City,  which  took  8  days,  was  a  “diabolical trial:  parched,  barren,  dusty  and  death  dealing”.  But  they survived and rested up in comfort in Mexico City. Figure  2.  Dr. Gordon’s model T Ford in Mexico, 1930. S8 Klaus D. Kallman Next >>