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

Judson Linsley Gressitt

3 islands · Jun – Oct 1955

Judson Linsley Gressitt in New Guinea, Vanua Levu and New Britain, June – October 1955

229 specimens · 62 stops · 128 days · 3,623 km

Isa Degener

6 islands · Dec 1968 – Feb 1969

Isa Degener across 6 islands, December 1968 – February 1969

230 specimens · 30 stops · 52 days · 41,268 km

H.U. Stauffer

10 islands · Dec 1963 – Apr 1964

H.U. Stauffer across 10 islands, December 1963 – April 1964

165 specimens · 43 stops · 140 days · 17,939 km

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

John T. Buchholz

New Caledonia and Viti Levu · Aug 1947 – Jan 1948

John T. Buchholz in New Caledonia and Viti Levu, August 1947 – January 1948

157 specimens · 43 stops · 134 days · 1,760 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

J. Manson Valentine

3 islands of Fiji · Jul 1937 – Jan 1938

J. Manson Valentine in Viti Levu, Taveuni and Ovalau, July 1937 – January 1938

131 specimens · 28 stops · 185 days · 23,764 km

Otto Degener

4 islands · Nov – Dec 1960

Otto Degener across 4 islands, November – December 1960

150 specimens · 23 stops · 43 days · 12,274 km

T. Hosokawa

12 islands · Jun – Sep 1934

T. Hosokawa across 12 islands, June – September 1934

185 specimens · 21 stops · 89 days · 8,890 km

P.B. Tomlinson

3 islands of Fiji · Apr – May 1969

P.B. Tomlinson in Viti Levu, Vanua Levu and Taveuni, April – May 1969

232 specimens · 13 stops · 16 days · 14,669 km

A. Meebold

3 islands · Jun – Jul 1932

A. Meebold in Viti Levu, Oʻahu and Tutuila, June – July 1932

336 specimens · 4 stops · 31 days · 5,857 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

Harold St.John

5 islands · Jun – Aug 1947

Harold St.John across 5 islands, June – August 1947

162 specimens · 13 stops · 63 days · 23,782 km

Johnson Randall

5 islands · Jun – Dec 1971

Johnson Randall across 5 islands, June – December 1971

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

Harold St.John

3 islands · 4–15 Apr 1938

Harold St.John in Lānaʻi, Maui and Rotuma, 4–15 April 1938

248 specimens · 6 stops · 12 days · 4,846 km

M. Hotta

9 islands · Jul – Oct 1960

M. Hotta across 9 islands, July – October 1960

126 specimens · 38 stops · 113 days · 3,718 km

Isa Degener

4 islands · Nov – Dec 1960

Isa Degener across 4 islands, November – December 1960

102 specimens · 20 stops · 40 days · 12,274 km

T.K. Newell

9 islands · Aug – Nov 1966

T.K. Newell across 9 islands, August – November 1966

116 specimens · 27 stops · 91 days · 12,029 km

T.Y. Yang

Taiwan and Formosa · Aug – Nov 1984

T.Y. Yang in Taiwan and Formosa, August – November 1984

78 specimens · 18 stops · 98 days

Ernest H. Quayle

14 islands · Apr – May 1922

Ernest H. Quayle across 14 islands, April – May 1922

112 specimens · 12 stops · 40 days · 3,640 km

Carl Masaru Yoshimoto

4 islands · Jan – Mar 1963

Carl Masaru Yoshimoto across 4 islands, January – March 1963

87 specimens · 19 stops · 39 days · 7,539 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

M.A. Weiner

4 islands · Sep – Oct 1969

M.A. Weiner across 4 islands, September – October 1969

108 specimens · 12 stops · 28 days

W.C. McClatchey

Rotuma and Solnohu Island · Sep – Dec 1991

W.C. McClatchey in Rotuma and Solnohu Island, September – December 1991

104 specimens · 23 stops · 76 days · 4 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.