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. 6 journeys so far, 1959 to 2002, 649 specimens between them.
4 collectors and expeditions133 days in the field1,218 km between stops265 photographed specimens
6 journeys match
E. Soakai
16 islands of Tonga · Jan – Aug 1959
E. Soakai across 16 islands of Tonga, January – August 1959133 specimens · 38 stops · 206 days · 603 km
Patrick V. Kirch
Niuatoputapu Island · Aug – Nov 1976
Patrick V. Kirch in Niuatoputapu Island, August – November 1976154 specimens · 20 stops · 100 days
Patrick V. Kirch
3 islands · Jun – Jul 1974
Patrick V. Kirch in Futuna Island, Niuatoputapu Island and Nuku Hiva, June – July 1974162 specimens · 15 stops · 44 days
G.P. Buelow
8 islands of Tonga · Apr – Aug 1978
G.P. Buelow across 8 islands of Tonga, April – August 197870 specimens · 38 stops · 148 days
Patrick V. Kirch
Niuatoputapu Island · 13–19 Jul 1976
Patrick V. Kirch in Niuatoputapu Island, 13–19 July 197664 specimens · 4 stops · 7 days
Masatomi Suzuki
3 islands of Tonga · 14–28 Mar 2002
Masatomi Suzuki in 'Eua Island, Niuatoputapu Island and Tafahi Island, 14–28 March 200266 specimens · 2 stops · 15 days · 615 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.