Bishop MuseumExplore

Journeys

The expeditions, reassembled

Every dated label is a diary entry. Read a collector’s labels in order and the voyage comes back: the islands in sequence, the days at each, the specimens from every stop. 36 journeys so far, 1921 to 2004, 15,506 specimens between them.

22 collectors and expeditions1,242 days in the field255,579 km between stops6,374 photographed specimens

Edwin Horace Bryan Jr.

85 islands · Nov 1923 – Nov 1924

Edwin Horace Bryan Jr. across 85 islands, November 1923 – November 1924

2,392 specimens · 109 stops · 342 days · 30,927 km

F. Raymond Fosberg

32 islands · Apr – Oct 1934

F. Raymond Fosberg across 32 islands, April – October 1934

2,503 specimens · 85 stops · 201 days · 23,387 km

Johnson Randall

27 islands · Dec 1970 – May 1971

Johnson Randall across 27 islands, December 1970 – May 1971

2,367 specimens · 98 stops · 175 days · 9,120 km

Dean B. Cannoy

23 islands · Dec 1970 – May 1971

Dean B. Cannoy across 23 islands, December 1970 – May 1971

1,582 specimens · 82 stops · 159 days · 7,718 km

Gerrit Parmele Wilder

4 islands · Feb – Sep 1929

Gerrit Parmele Wilder across 4 islands, February – September 1929

605 specimens · 77 stops · 205 days · 5,048 km

Jan Newhouse

11 islands · Jun – Sep 1952

Jan Newhouse across 11 islands, June – September 1952

713 specimens · 52 stops · 120 days · 10,694 km

Harold E. Parks

4 islands · May – Jul 1927

Harold E. Parks across 4 islands, May – July 1927

771 specimens · 22 stops · 72 days · 542 km

Gerrit Parmele Wilder

18 islands · Nov 1924 – May 1925

Gerrit Parmele Wilder across 18 islands, November 1924 – May 1925

244 specimens · 43 stops · 188 days · 15,411 km

W.R. Sykes

5 islands · Apr – Jul 1992

W.R. Sykes across 5 islands, April – July 1992

414 specimens · 16 stops · 75 days · 4,191 km

E.Y. Dawson

Enewetak Atoll and Mauke · Aug – Sep 1955

E.Y. Dawson in Enewetak Atoll and Mauke, August – September 1955

435 specimens · 10 stops · 16 days

W.R. Sykes

Atiu and Rarotonga · Jun – Aug 1991

W.R. Sykes in Atiu and Rarotonga, June – August 1991

252 specimens · 27 stops · 40 days

Hugh Shaw MacKee

9 islands · Jul – Sep 1955

Hugh Shaw MacKee across 9 islands, July – September 1955

222 specimens · 28 stops · 64 days · 5,455 km

C.R. Long

9 islands · Jun – Jul 1965

C.R. Long across 9 islands, June – July 1965

244 specimens · 17 stops · 33 days · 2,563 km

Harold E. Parks

5 islands · May – Jun 1926

Harold E. Parks across 5 islands, May – June 1926

333 specimens · 7 stops · 32 days · 1,859 km

P.S. Vroom

7 islands · Jan – Mar 2002

P.S. Vroom across 7 islands, January – March 2002

348 specimens · 9 stops · 50 days · 6,339 km

W.A. Whistler

9 islands · Apr – Jun 1985

W.A. Whistler across 9 islands, April – June 1985

140 specimens · 32 stops · 75 days · 9,570 km

Harold E. Parks

Rarotonga · May – Jul 1929

Harold E. Parks in Rarotonga, May – July 1929

115 specimens · 17 stops · 69 days

D.R. Stoddart

Aitutaki and Rarotonga · Aug – Sep 1969

D.R. Stoddart in Aitutaki and Rarotonga, August – September 1969

109 specimens · 17 stops · 21 days

K.J. Geisler

4 islands · 7–23 Feb 2001

K.J. Geisler across 4 islands, 7–23 February 2001

233 specimens · 5 stops · 17 days · 2,731 km

Gerrit Parmele Wilder

3 islands · Jul – Dec 1926

Gerrit Parmele Wilder in Moorea, Tahiti and Penrhyn Atoll, July – December 1926

77 specimens · 29 stops · 145 days · 451 km

Gerrit Parmele Wilder

5 islands · Mar – Aug 1927

Gerrit Parmele Wilder across 5 islands, March – August 1927

69 specimens · 28 stops · 155 days · 13,558 km

W.R. Sykes

Rarotonga and Mangaia · Jan – Feb 1990

W.R. Sykes in Rarotonga and Mangaia, January – February 1990

103 specimens · 35 stops · 40 days · 5,124 km

K.N. Page

Kingman Reef and Jarvis Island · Mar – Apr 2004

K.N. Page in Kingman Reef and Jarvis Island, March – April 2004

374 specimens · 2 stops · 10 days · 798 km

Noel Louis Hilmer Krauss

13 islands · Dec 1976 – Apr 1977

Noel Louis Hilmer Krauss across 13 islands, December 1976 – April 1977

88 specimens · 27 stops · 104 days · 15,072 km

How a journey is found

Every specimen with a full date and a known collector is a diary entry. The days are read in order; a gap of more than three weeks ends one journey and starts the next. Days spent where a collector lived most of their life are home, not travel, and are left out.

A journey needs at least five days, forty specimens and two places. Within it, a run of days spent within about ten kilometres is one stop; the stop’s point is the middle of the labels that carry coordinates, or the island’s centre when none do.

Companions are the people whose own labels put them in the same place on the same days. Staff can name a journey, write about it and feature it; everything else here is read straight off the specimens, and is rebuilt as the records improve.