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. 7 journeys so far, 1921 to 1985, 1,274 specimens between them.
6 collectors and expeditions181 days in the field68,917 km between stops622 photographed specimens
7 journeys match


Gerrit Parmele Wilder
18 islands · Nov 1924 – May 1925
Gerrit Parmele Wilder across 18 islands, November 1924 – May 1925244 specimens · 43 stops · 188 days · 15,411 km
Ernest H. Quayle
5 islands of French Polynesia · Sep – Nov 1921
Ernest H. Quayle across 5 islands of French Polynesia, September – November 1921271 specimens · 29 stops · 78 days · 4,525 km
M.-H Sachet
8 islands of French Polynesia · Nov 1974 – Feb 1975
M.-H Sachet across 8 islands of French Polynesia, November 1974 – February 1975286 specimens · 34 stops · 108 days · 4,737 km
J. Raynal
7 islands · Jun – Aug 1973
J. Raynal across 7 islands, June – August 1973117 specimens · 29 stops · 79 days · 4,474 km
M.-H Sachet
5 islands of French Polynesia · Jun – Jul 1982
M.-H Sachet across 5 islands of French Polynesia, June – July 1982169 specimens · 12 stops · 28 days · 297 km
Jacques Florence
4 islands of French Polynesia · Apr – May 1982
Jacques Florence across 4 islands of French Polynesia, April – May 1982122 specimens · 6 stops · 54 days · 3,245 km
F. Raymond Fosberg
7 islands · May – Jun 1985
F. Raymond Fosberg across 7 islands, May – June 198565 specimens · 10 stops · 35 days · 36,228 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.
