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, 1929 to 1982, 5,072 specimens between them.

9 collectors and expeditions382 days in the field286,796 km between stops2,643 photographed specimens

Masahiko Takamatsu

31 islands · Dec 1935 – Jun 1936

Masahiko Takamatsu across 31 islands, December 1935 – June 1936

2,083 specimens · 77 stops · 205 days · 15,209 km

R.L. Stemmermann

28 islands · Nov 1977 – Feb 1978

R.L. Stemmermann across 28 islands, November 1977 – February 1978

620 specimens · 70 stops · 102 days · 20,526 km

H.A. Miller

26 islands · Jun – Aug 1960

H.A. Miller across 26 islands, June – August 1960

410 specimens · 37 stops · 90 days · 20,099 km

H.O. Whittier

21 islands · Jun – Aug 1960

H.O. Whittier across 21 islands, June – August 1960

310 specimens · 20 stops · 77 days · 1,577 km

Benjamin C. Stone

22 islands · Feb – Aug 1957

Benjamin C. Stone across 22 islands, February – August 1957

301 specimens · 47 stops · 169 days · 33,594 km

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

Robert Hobdy

17 islands · Apr – Aug 1982

Robert Hobdy across 17 islands, April – August 1982

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

R. Kanehira

18 islands · Jun – Aug 1929

R. Kanehira across 18 islands, June – August 1929

195 specimens · 28 stops · 90 days · 12,115 km

H.A. Miller

5 islands · Mar – Apr 1965

H.A. Miller across 5 islands, March – April 1965

261 specimens · 6 stops · 42 days · 16,828 km

Benjamin C. Stone

11 islands · Dec 1964 – Feb 1965

Benjamin C. Stone across 11 islands, December 1964 – February 1965

145 specimens · 14 stops · 51 days · 64,561 km

R.L. Stemmermann

5 islands · Nov – Dec 1979

R.L. Stemmermann across 5 islands, November – December 1979

78 specimens · 10 stops · 34 days · 5,655 km

A.E. Haun

Pohnpei and Ponape Island · Nov – Dec 1979

A.E. Haun in Pohnpei and Ponape Island, November – December 1979

58 specimens · 5 stops · 9 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.