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. 10 journeys so far, 1973 to 2002, 2,601 specimens between them.
5 collectors and expeditions275 days in the field98,325 km between stops
10 journeys match
Johnson Randall
12 islands · Jun – Sep 1973
Johnson Randall across 12 islands, June – September 1973770 specimens · 45 stops · 83 days · 15,630 km
Johnson Randall
20 islands · Aug – Nov 1987
Johnson Randall across 20 islands, August – November 1987700 specimens · 51 stops · 87 days · 9,036 km
John L. Earle
18 islands · Sep – Dec 1993
John L. Earle across 18 islands, September – December 1993336 specimens · 27 stops · 81 days · 26,222 km
Johnson Randall
20 islands · Aug – Dec 1993
Johnson Randall across 20 islands, August – December 1993214 specimens · 31 stops · 114 days · 29,910 km
Gerald R. Allen
7 islands · Jul – Aug 1973
Gerald R. Allen across 7 islands, July – August 1973241 specimens · 22 stops · 48 days · 2,361 km
John L. Earle
6 islands of Papua New Guinea · Nov – Dec 1995
John L. Earle across 6 islands of Papua New Guinea, November – December 199589 specimens · 7 stops · 37 days · 6,860 km
Johnson Randall
7 islands of Papua New Guinea · Nov – Dec 1995
Johnson Randall across 7 islands of Papua New Guinea, November – December 199574 specimens · 8 stops · 33 days · 7,022 km
Richard L. Pyle
4 islands of Papua New Guinea · 3–16 Dec 1995
Richard L. Pyle across 4 islands of Papua New Guinea, 3–16 December 199563 specimens · 7 stops · 14 days · 200 km
Johnson Randall
3 islands of Papua New Guinea · Jul – Aug 2002
Johnson Randall in New Britain, Duke Of York and Ulu Island, July – August 200248 specimens · 10 stops · 34 days · 572 km
Patrick Colin
Port Moresby and Madang Province · Oct – Nov 1987
Patrick Colin in Port Moresby and Madang Province, October – November 198766 specimens · 2 stops · 7 days · 512 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.