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. 13 journeys so far, 1971 to 1979, 2,543 specimens between them.

10 collectors and expeditions231 days in the field87,343 km between stops1,337 photographed specimens

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

Johnson Randall

10 islands · Jan – Apr 1973

Johnson Randall across 10 islands, January – April 1973

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

D.B. Sumithraarachchi

Sri Lanka · 25–29 Oct 1975

D.B. Sumithraarachchi in Sri Lanka, 25–29 October 1975

320 specimens · 5 stops · 5 days

Johnson Randall

5 islands · Jun – Dec 1971

Johnson Randall across 5 islands, June – December 1971

221 specimens · 23 stops · 158 days · 27,137 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

Noel Louis Hilmer Krauss

6 islands · Nov 1978 – Jan 1979

Noel Louis Hilmer Krauss across 6 islands, November 1978 – January 1979

57 specimens · 17 stops · 90 days · 2,398 km

P.J. Garnock-Jones

3 islands of Fiji · Jun – Jul 1977

P.J. Garnock-Jones in Vanua Balavu, Lakeba and Ovalau, June – July 1977

67 specimens · 13 stops · 24 days · 3,420 km

M.A. Weiner

5 islands of Fiji · Jul – Aug 1972

M.A. Weiner across 5 islands of Fiji, July – August 1972

66 specimens · 10 stops · 32 days · 2,738 km

M.A. Weiner

5 islands of Fiji · Jun – Jul 1971

M.A. Weiner across 5 islands of Fiji, June – July 1971

71 specimens · 9 stops · 25 days · 11,374 km

R.C. Phillips

4 islands · Jun – Jul 1973

R.C. Phillips across 4 islands, June – July 1973

55 specimens · 4 stops · 26 days · 4,659 km

Donald P. Abbott

4 islands · Jun – Jul 1973

Donald P. Abbott across 4 islands, June – July 1973

49 specimens · 4 stops · 26 days · 4,659 km

R. Lubbock

New Caledonia and Viti Levu · 11–20 Mar 1975

R. Lubbock in New Caledonia and Viti Levu, 11–20 March 1975

43 specimens · 5 stops · 10 days · 2,851 km

Richard H. Randall

Viti Levu and New Caledonia · 7–14 Aug 1971

Richard H. Randall in Viti Levu and New Caledonia, 7–14 August 1971

71 specimens · 2 stops · 8 days · 2,851 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.