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. 165 journeys so far, 1912 to 2017, 55,913 specimens between them.
82 collectors and expeditions4,347 days in the field1,430,387 km between stops35,631 photographed specimens
165 journeys match
P.A. Schafer
4 islands of French Polynesia · Jan – Apr 1975
P.A. Schafer across 4 islands of French Polynesia, January – April 1975231 specimens · 36 stops · 89 days · 329 km
Hugh Shaw MacKee
9 islands · Jul – Sep 1955
Hugh Shaw MacKee across 9 islands, July – September 1955222 specimens · 28 stops · 64 days · 5,455 km



Alastair M. Adamson
Tahiti and Moorea · Oct – Dec 1928
Alastair M. Adamson in Tahiti and Moorea, October – December 1928203 specimens · 15 stops · 49 days · 153 km
Royce L. Oliver
3 islands of French Polynesia · Jan – Mar 1975
Royce L. Oliver in Hiva Oa, Tahuata and Hivaoa, January – March 1975220 specimens · 27 stops · 58 days · 222 km
B.G. Decker
8 islands · Sep – Nov 1974
B.G. Decker across 8 islands, September – November 1974227 specimens · 24 stops · 63 days · 5,150 km



Stokes
Rapa · Jun – Oct 1921
Stokes in Rapa, June – October 1921174 specimens · 12 stops · 143 days · 1,215 km
Steven L. Montgomery
9 islands of French Polynesia · Jul – Oct 1988
Steven L. Montgomery across 9 islands of French Polynesia, July – October 1988277 specimens · 18 stops · 73 days · 10,669 km
Reid Moran
3 islands · Jun – Sep 1954
Reid Moran in Guam, Tinian and California, June – September 1954197 specimens · 23 stops · 86 days · 127,923 km
Kenneth R. Wood
9 islands · Jun – Nov 1997
Kenneth R. Wood across 9 islands, June – November 1997164 specimens · 33 stops · 139 days · 49,817 km
Betsy H. Gagne
7 islands of French Polynesia · Jul – Sep 1988
Betsy H. Gagne across 7 islands of French Polynesia, July – September 1988267 specimens · 15 stops · 68 days · 10,816 km
H.O. Whittier
3 islands of French Polynesia · Sep – Nov 1964
H.O. Whittier in Tahiti, Moorea and Taiarapu, September – November 1964131 specimens · 23 stops · 75 days · 43 km
Benjamin C. Stone
5 islands · Jul – Sep 1981
Benjamin C. Stone across 5 islands, July – September 1981220 specimens · 21 stops · 49 days · 9,878 km
Jacques Florence
5 islands of French Polynesia · May – Jul 1990
Jacques Florence across 5 islands of French Polynesia, May – July 1990302 specimens · 8 stops · 60 days · 929 km
John Francis Gray Stokes
Rapa and Rapaq · Jul – Nov 1921
John Francis Gray Stokes in Rapa and Rapaq, July – November 1921149 specimens · 21 stops · 116 days
Jan Newhouse
6 islands · Dec 1968 – Feb 1969
Jan Newhouse across 6 islands, December 1968 – February 1969162 specimens · 13 stops · 62 days · 4,798 km
Whitney Expedition
27 islands of French Polynesia · Feb – Jul 1923
Whitney Expedition, February – July 1923157 specimens · 34 stops · 154 days · 1,174 km
Jacques Florence
4 islands · Apr – Jul 1991
Jacques Florence across 4 islands, April – July 1991294 specimens · 7 stops · 85 days · 5,985 km

Gerrit Parmele Wilder
7 islands · Aug – Sep 1923
Gerrit Parmele Wilder across 7 islands, August – September 1923171 specimens · 15 stops · 36 days · 5,391 km
Jacques Florence
6 islands of French Polynesia · Nov – Dec 1982
Jacques Florence across 6 islands of French Polynesia, November – December 1982276 specimens · 8 stops · 47 days · 3,804 km
J.C. Chapin
15 islands · Oct 1934 – Jan 1935
J.C. Chapin across 15 islands, October 1934 – January 1935125 specimens · 26 stops · 107 days · 13,508 km
van Royen
3 islands · Jun – Sep 1967
van Royen in Oʻahu, Kauaʻi and Moorea, June – September 1967147 specimens · 11 stops · 80 days · 8,799 km
Jan Newhouse
3 islands of French Polynesia · 2–24 Aug 1967
Jan Newhouse in Tahiti, Bora Bora and Moorea, 2–24 August 1967139 specimens · 18 stops · 23 days · 941 km
J. Raynal
7 islands · Jun – Aug 1973
J. Raynal across 7 islands, June – August 1973117 specimens · 29 stops · 79 days · 4,474 km
W.A. Whistler
9 islands · Apr – Jun 1985
W.A. Whistler across 9 islands, April – June 1985140 specimens · 32 stops · 75 days · 9,570 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.
