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. 67 journeys so far, 1912 to 2004, 36,640 specimens between them.
39 collectors and expeditions2,383 days in the field703,547 km between stops23,170 photographed specimens
67 journeys match
W. Teraoka
4 islands · Apr 1979 – Mar 1980
W. Teraoka across 4 islands, April 1979 – March 1980183 specimens · 58 stops · 348 days · 23,334 km
M.-H Sachet
6 islands · Jul – Nov 1963
M.-H Sachet across 6 islands, July – November 1963308 specimens · 22 stops · 118 days · 9,873 km

Gerrit Parmele Wilder
3 islands of French Polynesia · Aug – Dec 1932
Gerrit Parmele Wilder in Makatea, Tahiti and Moorea, August – December 1932218 specimens · 23 stops · 120 days · 1,308 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
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
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
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
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
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
F. Raymond Fosberg
3 islands of French Polynesia · Aug – Sep 1985
F. Raymond Fosberg in Maupiti Island, Tahiti and Maupiti, August – September 1985158 specimens · 22 stops · 27 days
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

Gerrit Parmele Wilder
3 islands · Jul – Dec 1926
Gerrit Parmele Wilder in Moorea, Tahiti and Penrhyn Atoll, July – December 192677 specimens · 29 stops · 145 days · 451 km
J. Raynal
9 islands · Jun – Oct 1971
J. Raynal across 9 islands, June – October 1971106 specimens · 42 stops · 103 days · 21,113 km
G.W. Gillett
4 islands · Jul – Sep 1970
G.W. Gillett across 4 islands, July – September 197094 specimens · 13 stops · 74 days · 5,743 km
Gerrit Parmele Wilder
5 islands · Mar – Aug 1927
Gerrit Parmele Wilder across 5 islands, March – August 192769 specimens · 28 stops · 155 days · 13,558 km
Jan Newhouse
5 islands · Jul – Aug 1968
Jan Newhouse across 5 islands, July – August 196898 specimens · 10 stops · 50 days · 6,701 km
Ernest H. Quayle
14 islands · Apr – May 1922
Ernest H. Quayle across 14 islands, April – May 1922112 specimens · 12 stops · 40 days · 3,640 km
P.H. Birnbaum
4 islands of French Polynesia · Sep – Nov 1988
P.H. Birnbaum across 4 islands of French Polynesia, September – November 1988110 specimens · 13 stops · 79 days · 698 km
J.E.R. Tilden
Tahiti and Australia · Aug – Sep 1912
J.E.R. Tilden in Tahiti and Australia, August – September 1912117 specimens · 7 stops · 32 days
Hessler Brown
13 islands of French Polynesia · Aug – Dec 1922
Hessler Brown across 13 islands of French Polynesia, August – December 192274 specimens · 29 stops · 137 days · 9,305 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.
