Bishop MuseumExplore

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. 15 journeys so far, 1945 to 1995, 6,274 specimens between them.

12 collectors and expeditions559 days in the field282,578 km between stops3,410 photographed specimens

Ernani Meñez

50 islands · Jun – Sep 1960

Ernani Meñez across 50 islands, June – September 1960

2,317 specimens · 38 stops · 100 days · 40,857 km

Benjamin C. Stone

20 islands · Sep 1957 – Feb 1958

Benjamin C. Stone across 20 islands, September 1957 – February 1958

507 specimens · 64 stops · 154 days · 21,480 km

Grady L. Webster

10 islands · Jun – Sep 1968

Grady L. Webster across 10 islands, June – September 1968

510 specimens · 60 stops · 111 days · 38,525 km

C.R. Long

29 islands · Aug – Nov 1964

C.R. Long across 29 islands, August – November 1964

467 specimens · 49 stops · 103 days · 19,051 km

Johnson Randall

12 islands · Jun – Sep 1973

Johnson Randall across 12 islands, June – September 1973

770 specimens · 45 stops · 83 days · 15,630 km

Harold St.John

11 islands · Oct 1957 – Feb 1958

Harold St.John across 11 islands, October 1957 – February 1958

325 specimens · 61 stops · 125 days · 23,583 km

H.O. Sleumer

New Guinea and Oʻahu · Jan – Feb 1962

H.O. Sleumer in New Guinea and Oʻahu, January – February 1962

239 specimens · 22 stops · 42 days · 9,681 km

John L. Earle

18 islands · Sep – Dec 1993

John L. Earle across 18 islands, September – December 1993

336 specimens · 27 stops · 81 days · 26,222 km

H.U. Stauffer

10 islands · Dec 1963 – Apr 1964

H.U. Stauffer across 10 islands, December 1963 – April 1964

165 specimens · 43 stops · 140 days · 17,939 km

Johnson Randall

20 islands · Aug – Dec 1993

Johnson Randall across 20 islands, August – December 1993

214 specimens · 31 stops · 114 days · 29,910 km

F. Raymond Fosberg

8 islands · Sep – Oct 1960

F. Raymond Fosberg across 8 islands, September – October 1960

112 specimens · 22 stops · 56 days · 12,270 km

David F. Grether

9 islands · Oct – Dec 1945

David F. Grether across 9 islands, October – December 1945

75 specimens · 15 stops · 36 days · 6,774 km

Warren L. Wagner Jr.

9 islands · Oct – Dec 1945

Warren L. Wagner Jr. across 9 islands, October – December 1945

74 specimens · 15 stops · 36 days · 6,774 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 1995

89 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 1995

74 specimens · 8 stops · 33 days · 7,022 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.