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. 12 journeys so far, 1970 to 1979, 4,108 specimens between them.

8 collectors and expeditions256 days in the field85,546 km between stops2,754 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

Seymour H. Sohmer

Sri Lanka and Pahang · Sep – Dec 1973

Seymour H. Sohmer in Sri Lanka and Pahang, September – December 1973

672 specimens · 28 stops · 94 days

Johnson Randall

14 islands of Sri Lanka · Jan – Apr 1975

Johnson Randall across 14 islands of Sri Lanka, January – April 1975

811 specimens · 56 stops · 88 days

F. Raymond Fosberg

10 islands · Oct – Dec 1978

F. Raymond Fosberg across 10 islands, October – December 1978

361 specimens · 27 stops · 68 days · 79,655 km

K. Eliezer

Sri Lanka · Oct – Nov 1973

K. Eliezer in Sri Lanka, October – November 1973

309 specimens · 11 stops · 43 days

Benjamin C. Stone

4 islands · Apr – May 1973

Benjamin C. Stone across 4 islands, April – May 1973

147 specimens · 19 stops · 56 days

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

M. Jayasuriya

Sri Lanka · Oct – Nov 1973

M. Jayasuriya in Sri Lanka, October – November 1973

200 specimens · 7 stops · 39 days

Gerald R. Allen

9 islands · Feb – Apr 1979

Gerald R. Allen across 9 islands, February – April 1979

163 specimens · 18 stops · 73 days · 5,891 km

F. Raymond Fosberg

Sri Lanka and Mauritius · Oct – Dec 1970

F. Raymond Fosberg in Sri Lanka and Mauritius, October – December 1970

56 specimens · 15 stops · 48 days

F. Raymond Fosberg

10 islands · May – Jul 1973

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

56 specimens · 17 stops · 45 days

D.B. Sumithraarachchi

Sri Lanka · 20–26 Nov 1975

D.B. Sumithraarachchi in Sri Lanka, 20–26 November 1975

77 specimens · 6 stops · 7 days

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.