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. 13 journeys so far, 1934 to 1992, 18,252 specimens between them.
13 collectors and expeditions573 days in the field98,134 km between stops16,294 photographed specimens
13 journeys match



Donald Anderson
34 islands · Apr – Oct 1934
Donald Anderson across 34 islands, April – October 19348,872 specimens · 35 stops · 202 days · 16,221 km



Clarence H. Cooke Jr.
26 islands · Apr – Oct 1934
Clarence H. Cooke Jr. across 26 islands, April – October 19343,369 specimens · 39 stops · 184 days · 14,736 km
F. Raymond Fosberg
32 islands · Apr – Oct 1934
F. Raymond Fosberg across 32 islands, April – October 19342,503 specimens · 85 stops · 201 days · 23,387 km



Elwood Curtin Zimmerman
21 islands · Feb – Oct 1934
Elwood Curtin Zimmerman across 21 islands, February – October 19341,714 specimens · 56 stops · 248 days · 12,587 km



Samuel Wight
16 islands of French Polynesia · May – Oct 1934
Samuel Wight across 16 islands of French Polynesia, May – October 1934733 specimens · 24 stops · 156 days · 7,021 km
W.R. Sykes
5 islands · Apr – Jul 1992
W.R. Sykes across 5 islands, April – July 1992414 specimens · 16 stops · 75 days · 4,191 km
Jacques Florence
5 islands of French Polynesia · Mar – May 1992
Jacques Florence across 5 islands of French Polynesia, March – May 1992227 specimens · 6 stops · 49 days · 2,824 km
Noel Louis Hilmer Krauss
13 islands · Dec 1976 – Apr 1977
Noel Louis Hilmer Krauss across 13 islands, December 1976 – April 197788 specimens · 27 stops · 104 days · 15,072 km



Dennis M. Devaney
8 islands · Feb – Mar 1971
Dennis M. Devaney across 8 islands, February – March 197190 specimens · 13 stops · 41 days · 1,684 km
N. Hallé
3 islands of French Polynesia · May – Jun 1979
N. Hallé in Tubuai, Tahiti and Marotiri, May – June 197950 specimens · 16 stops · 41 days
Seymour H. Sohmer
Tubuai · Jun – Jul 1971
Seymour H. Sohmer in Tubuai, June – July 197169 specimens · 6 stops · 23 days
Walter Hambuechen
3 islands of French Polynesia · 1–5 Dec 1960
Walter Hambuechen in Rurutu, Tubuai and Raivavae, 1–5 December 196083 specimens · 3 stops · 5 days

Alex B. Anderson
3 islands of French Polynesia · 8–26 Aug 1934
Alex B. Anderson in Tubuai, Rurutu and Raivavae, 8–26 August 193440 specimens · 5 stops · 19 days · 411 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.
