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. 86 journeys so far, 1940 to 1950, 16,957 specimens between them.

45 collectors and expeditions1,694 days in the field430,574 km between stops11,954 photographed specimens

R.L. Wilbur

3 islands of the United States · May – Jul 1948

R.L. Wilbur in Maui, Hawaiʻi Island and Oʻahu, May – July 1948

191 specimens · 17 stops · 44 days · 594 km

Otto Degener

4 islands · Dec 1949 – May 1950

Otto Degener across 4 islands, December 1949 – May 1950

142 specimens · 27 stops · 159 days · 1,031 km

R.S. Cowan

Kauaʻi · Dec 1947 – Jan 1948

R.S. Cowan in Kauaʻi, December 1947 – January 1948

203 specimens · 12 stops · 20 days

Harold St.John

3 islands of the United States · Dec 1948 – Jan 1949

Harold St.John in Molokaʻi, Niʻihau and Oʻahu, December 1948 – January 1949

219 specimens · 8 stops · 25 days · 490 km

Harold St.John

5 islands · Jun – Aug 1947

Harold St.John across 5 islands, June – August 1947

162 specimens · 13 stops · 63 days · 23,782 km

Otto Degener

3 islands of the United States · Oct 1948 – Apr 1949

Otto Degener in Maui, Oʻahu and Hawaiʻi Island, October 1948 – April 1949

115 specimens · 24 stops · 160 days · 1,125 km

F. Raymond Fosberg

Oʻahu and Molokaʻi · Feb – Apr 1948

F. Raymond Fosberg in Oʻahu and Molokaʻi, February – April 1948

132 specimens · 15 stops · 71 days · 524 km

Maxwell S. Doty

Penikese · Jun – Sep 1947

Maxwell S. Doty in Penikese, June – September 1947

123 specimens · 22 stops · 86 days

Harold St.John

11 islands · Jul – Aug 1949

Harold St.John across 11 islands, July – August 1949

180 specimens · 15 stops · 30 days · 6,890 km

Yoshio KondoKay Kondo

Oʻahu · Mar – Apr 1948

Yoshio KondoKay Kondo in Oʻahu, March – April 1948

164 specimens · 7 stops · 37 days · 934 km

E.Y. Dawson

8 islands · May – Jun 1949

E.Y. Dawson across 8 islands, May – June 1949

127 specimens · 14 stops · 29 days

M.L. Lohman

Kauaʻi and Oʻahu · Oct 1947 – Jan 1948

M.L. Lohman in Kauaʻi and Oʻahu, October 1947 – January 1948

173 specimens · 19 stops · 67 days · 763 km

David F. Grether

5 islands · Jul – Aug 1946

David F. Grether across 5 islands, July – August 1946

121 specimens · 10 stops · 38 days · 37,731 km

Maxwell S. Doty

Squaw · Jun – Sep 1940

Maxwell S. Doty in Squaw, June – September 1940

86 specimens · 31 stops · 103 days

Noel Louis Hilmer Krauss

4 islands of the United States · Oct – Dec 1947

Noel Louis Hilmer Krauss across 4 islands of the United States, October – December 1947

188 specimens · 15 stops · 40 days · 52 km

Yoshio KondoKay Kondo

Oʻahu · Mar – Jun 1946

Yoshio KondoKay Kondo in Oʻahu, March – June 1946

124 specimens · 6 stops · 65 days · 506 km

Maxwell S. Doty

5 islands of the United States · Jun – Aug 1948

Maxwell S. Doty across 5 islands of the United States, June – August 1948

74 specimens · 22 stops · 82 days

Carl Skottsberg

6 islands of the United States · Jan – Apr 1948

Carl Skottsberg across 6 islands of the United States, January – April 1948

75 specimens · 25 stops · 88 days · 1,565 km

Maxwell S. Doty

Squaw · Jun – Aug 1941

Maxwell S. Doty in Squaw, June – August 1941

65 specimens · 21 stops · 74 days

Yoshio KondoKay Kondo

Oʻahu and Kauaʻi · Jan – Mar 1947

Yoshio KondoKay Kondo in Oʻahu and Kauaʻi, January – March 1947

92 specimens · 7 stops · 70 days · 539 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

Cottam Hudson

Molokaʻi and Oʻahu · Dec 1948 – Jan 1949

Cottam Hudson in Molokaʻi and Oʻahu, December 1948 – January 1949

125 specimens · 6 stops · 15 days · 220 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

Maxwell S. Doty

Squaw and Raroia Atoll · Jun – Aug 1942

Maxwell S. Doty in Squaw and Raroia Atoll, June – August 1942

65 specimens · 25 stops · 87 days

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.