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. 80 journeys so far, 1922 to 2003, 27,688 specimens between them.

56 collectors and expeditions2,179 days in the field886,599 km between stops17,655 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

Laurence H. MacDaniels

12 islands · Oct 1926 – Jul 1927

Laurence H. MacDaniels across 12 islands, October 1926 – July 1927

2,144 specimens · 105 stops · 274 days · 40,135 km

Yoshio KondoKay Kondo

12 islands of Fiji · Jun – Oct 1938

Yoshio KondoKay Kondo across 12 islands of Fiji, June – October 1938

2,255 specimens · 28 stops · 115 days · 15,460 km

Albert C. Smith

16 islands · Oct 1933 – Jun 1934

Albert C. Smith across 16 islands, October 1933 – June 1934

2,049 specimens · 73 stops · 248 days · 76,386 km

Otto Degener

5 islands of Fiji · Nov 1940 – Jul 1941

Otto Degener across 5 islands of Fiji, November 1940 – July 1941

1,263 specimens · 59 stops · 237 days · 15,888 km

Seymour H. Sohmer

Sri Lanka and Oʻahu · Oct – Dec 1975

Seymour H. Sohmer in Sri Lanka and Oʻahu, October – December 1975

936 specimens · 26 stops · 44 days

Yoshio KondoKay Kondo

22 islands · Jun – Dec 1968

Yoshio KondoKay Kondo across 22 islands, June – December 1968

642 specimens · 45 stops · 180 days · 13,960 km

Albert C. Smith

10 islands · Mar – Aug 1953

Albert C. Smith across 10 islands, March – August 1953

869 specimens · 33 stops · 154 days · 15,233 km

Harold St.John

9 islands · Jun – Nov 1938

Harold St.John across 9 islands, June – November 1938

1,315 specimens · 9 stops · 172 days · 5,917 km

Elwood Curtin Zimmerman

7 islands of Fiji · Jul – Oct 1938

Elwood Curtin Zimmerman across 7 islands of Fiji, July – October 1938

697 specimens · 21 stops · 92 days · 3,794 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

Grady L. Webster

10 islands · Jun – Sep 1968

Grady L. Webster across 10 islands, June – September 1968

510 specimens · 60 stops · 111 days · 38,525 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

Harold St.John

7 islands · Apr – Aug 1937

Harold St.John across 7 islands, April – August 1937

459 specimens · 38 stops · 139 days · 68,706 km

Albert C. Smith

3 islands of Fiji · Oct – Dec 1947

Albert C. Smith in Vanua Levu, Macuata and Fiji, October – December 1947

527 specimens · 16 stops · 69 days

W.R. Sykes

4 islands · Sep – Dec 1965

W.R. Sykes across 4 islands, September – December 1965

336 specimens · 55 stops · 98 days · 5,255 km

Clarence H. Cooke Jr.

3 islands of Fiji · 7–26 Jul 1938

Clarence H. Cooke Jr. in Viti Levu, Ovalau and Fiji, 7–26 July 1938

560 specimens · 9 stops · 20 days · 3,777 km

Harold St.John

4 islands · Oct 1936 – Feb 1937

Harold St.John across 4 islands, October 1936 – February 1937

352 specimens · 20 stops · 95 days · 23,771 km

John W. Gillespie

3 islands of Fiji · Jan – Mar 1928

John W. Gillespie in Taveuni, Ovalau and Taviuni, January – March 1928

492 specimens · 24 stops · 51 days · 4,541 km

Johnson Randall

10 islands · Jan – Apr 1973

Johnson Randall across 10 islands, January – April 1973

499 specimens · 49 stops · 110 days · 10,184 km

Richard Hildreth

6 islands · Jul – Sep 1968

Richard Hildreth across 6 islands, July – September 1968

322 specimens · 44 stops · 75 days · 8,666 km

Robert H. Snider

14 islands · Sep 1964 – Jan 1965

Robert H. Snider across 14 islands, September 1964 – January 1965

519 specimens · 28 stops · 139 days · 19,940 km

E. Ordonez

5 islands of Fiji · Nov 1940 – Jan 1941

E. Ordonez across 5 islands of Fiji, November 1940 – January 1941

444 specimens · 14 stops · 70 days · 10,426 km

Otto Degener

6 islands · Dec 1968 – Feb 1969

Otto Degener across 6 islands, December 1968 – February 1969

258 specimens · 29 stops · 52 days · 41,268 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.