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. 11 journeys so far, 1936 to 2009, 2,953 specimens between them.

7 collectors and expeditions362 days in the field148,032 km between stops1,986 photographed specimens

F. Raymond Fosberg

21 islands · Nov 1951 – Apr 1952

F. Raymond Fosberg across 21 islands, November 1951 – April 1952

672 specimens · 57 stops · 145 days · 13,644 km

Benjamin C. Stone

20 islands · Sep 1957 – Feb 1958

Benjamin C. Stone across 20 islands, September 1957 – February 1958

507 specimens · 64 stops · 154 days · 21,480 km

Harold St.John

5 islands · Sep 1947 – Jan 1948

Harold St.John across 5 islands, September 1947 – January 1948

276 specimens · 21 stops · 126 days · 13,296 km

Edward Yataro Hosaka

4 islands · Jun – Sep 1936

Edward Yataro Hosaka across 4 islands, June – September 1936

232 specimens · 37 stops · 84 days · 4 km

Harold St.John

7 islands · Dec 1946 – Feb 1947

Harold St.John across 7 islands, December 1946 – February 1947

291 specimens · 17 stops · 67 days · 4,927 km

Robert Hobdy

17 islands · Apr – Aug 1982

Robert Hobdy across 17 islands, April – August 1982

250 specimens · 24 stops · 106 days · 16,977 km

Harold St.John

15 islands · Dec 1945 – May 1946

Harold St.John across 15 islands, December 1945 – May 1946

194 specimens · 23 stops · 147 days · 16,487 km

Steven Perlman

7 islands · Jan – Apr 2009

Steven Perlman across 7 islands, January – April 2009

157 specimens · 25 stops · 94 days · 15,389 km

Steven Perlman

9 islands · Sep – Dec 2008

Steven Perlman across 9 islands, September – December 2008

122 specimens · 20 stops · 81 days · 10,371 km

Harold St.John

16 islands · Jun – Aug 1956

Harold St.John across 16 islands, June – August 1956

140 specimens · 31 stops · 69 days · 26,065 km

W. Law

4 islands · Feb – Apr 2009

W. Law across 4 islands, February – April 2009

112 specimens · 14 stops · 44 days · 9,392 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.