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. 55 journeys so far, 1922 to 2009, 20,132 specimens between them.

44 collectors and expeditions1,717 days in the field660,137 km between stops14,275 photographed specimens

D.J. Russell Jr.

Fanning (=Tabuaeran) · Jul – Aug 1972

D.J. Russell Jr. in Fanning (=Tabuaeran), July – August 1972

142 specimens · 16 stops · 47 days

W. Law

4 islands · Feb – Apr 2009

W. Law across 4 islands, February – April 2009

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

Edwin Horace Bryan Jr.

14 islands · Jul – Sep 1938

Edwin Horace Bryan Jr. across 14 islands, July – September 1938

131 specimens · 17 stops · 49 days · 11,700 km

Roy Tsuda

Fanning (=Tabuaeran) · Jul – Aug 1972

Roy Tsuda in Fanning (=Tabuaeran), July – August 1972

131 specimens · 14 stops · 42 days

L. Wester

4 islands of Kiribati · 1–29 Aug 1982

L. Wester across 4 islands of Kiribati, 1–29 August 1982

118 specimens · 14 stops · 29 days

C.T. Imada

4 islands of Kiribati · Aug – Sep 2003

C.T. Imada across 4 islands of Kiribati, August – September 2003

170 specimens · 8 stops · 20 days · 789 km

M. Bates

4 islands · Jul – Sep 1953

M. Bates across 4 islands, July – September 1953

114 specimens · 13 stops · 64 days

Erling Christophersen

8 islands · Jun – Sep 1924

Erling Christophersen across 8 islands, June – September 1924

81 specimens · 18 stops · 111 days · 15,205 km

Jim Space

4 islands of Kiribati · Aug – Sep 2003

Jim Space across 4 islands of Kiribati, August – September 2003

157 specimens · 8 stops · 20 days · 790 km

W.J. Gilbert

6 islands · Jun – Aug 1963

W.J. Gilbert across 6 islands, June – August 1963

69 specimens · 15 stops · 62 days · 5,418 km

H.F. Bergman

5 islands · Jul – Aug 1924

H.F. Bergman across 5 islands, July – August 1924

110 specimens · 11 stops · 39 days · 1,637 km

F. Adair

Tarawa Atoll · Aug – Nov 1967

F. Adair in Tarawa Atoll, August – November 1967

76 specimens · 19 stops · 93 days

Johnson Randall

5 islands · Feb – May 1956

Johnson Randall across 5 islands, February – May 1956

111 specimens · 14 stops · 108 days · 128 km

E.H. Walker

4 islands · Jan – Apr 1949

E.H. Walker across 4 islands, January – April 1949

52 specimens · 22 stops · 69 days · 29,915 km

Edward Leonard Caum

7 islands · 1–28 Apr 1923

Edward Leonard Caum across 7 islands, 1–28 April 1923

78 specimens · 10 stops · 28 days · 2,863 km

station

17 islands · Aug – Dec 1956

station, August – December 1956

76 specimens · 33 stops · 130 days · 25,742 km

Otto Degener

4 islands · Jan – Feb 1958

Otto Degener across 4 islands, January – February 1958

84 specimens · 20 stops · 41 days · 13,268 km

Angela Kay Kepler

Caroline Atoll · Mar – Apr 1990

Angela Kay Kepler in Caroline Atoll, March – April 1990

106 specimens · 3 stops · 28 days

Isa Degener

4 islands · Jan – Feb 1958

Isa Degener across 4 islands, January – February 1958

79 specimens · 20 stops · 41 days · 13,268 km

F. Raymond Fosberg

10 islands · May – Jul 1973

F. Raymond Fosberg across 10 islands, May – July 1973

56 specimens · 17 stops · 45 days

Brian D. Greene

Kiritimati Atoll and Kiritimati Atoll (Christmas Island) · 19–29 Jul 2005

Brian D. Greene in Kiritimati Atoll and Kiritimati Atoll (Christmas Island), 19–29 July 2005

131 specimens · 7 stops · 11 days · 193 km

Katherine Luomala

Tabiteuea and Onotoa · Oct – Dec 1948

Katherine Luomala in Tabiteuea and Onotoa, October – December 1948

62 specimens · 10 stops · 58 days

V Hugh M. Smith cruise 35

12 islands · Aug – Sep 1956

V Hugh M. Smith cruise 35, August – September 1956

50 specimens · 25 stops · 60 days · 13,190 km

F. Raymond Fosberg

8 islands · 14–31 Mar 1975

F. Raymond Fosberg across 8 islands, 14–31 March 1975

44 specimens · 8 stops · 18 days · 136 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.