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. 30 journeys so far, 1903 to 1999, 9,529 specimens between them.

21 collectors and expeditions896 days in the field182,038 km between stops6,160 photographed specimens

Edwin Horace Bryan Jr.

85 islands · Nov 1923 – Nov 1924

Edwin Horace Bryan Jr. across 85 islands, November 1923 – November 1924

2,392 specimens · 109 stops · 342 days · 30,927 km

E.P. Hume

3 islands · Jun – Sep 1931

E.P. Hume in Savaii, Tutuila and Upolu, June – September 1931

761 specimens · 47 stops · 92 days · 225 km

M.M. Fleischer

13 islands · Feb – Jun 1903

M.M. Fleischer across 13 islands, February – June 1903

411 specimens · 33 stops · 113 days · 52,279 km

Elwood Curtin Zimmerman

4 islands · May – Aug 1940

Elwood Curtin Zimmerman across 4 islands, May – August 1940

616 specimens · 10 stops · 86 days · 181 km

Truman George Yuncker

6 islands · Sep – Dec 1939

Truman George Yuncker across 6 islands, September – December 1939

573 specimens · 26 stops · 81 days · 2,624 km

Erling Christophersen

3 islands · Aug – Sep 1929

Erling Christophersen in Upolu, Tutuila and Ofu, August – September 1929

587 specimens · 24 stops · 37 days · 31 km

W.A. Whistler

7 islands · May – Aug 1975

W.A. Whistler across 7 islands, May – August 1975

447 specimens · 44 stops · 90 days · 980 km

W.A. Whistler

11 islands · May 1976 – Jan 1977

W.A. Whistler across 11 islands, May 1976 – January 1977

301 specimens · 62 stops · 237 days · 2,182 km

C.R. Long

24 islands · Apr – Jul 1964

C.R. Long across 24 islands, April – July 1964

264 specimens · 39 stops · 91 days · 15,404 km

W.A. Whistler

8 islands · Jan – Apr 1974

W.A. Whistler across 8 islands, January – April 1974

352 specimens · 31 stops · 99 days · 522 km

Erling Christophersen

5 islands · Oct – Nov 1929

Erling Christophersen across 5 islands, October – November 1929

315 specimens · 20 stops · 44 days · 283 km

W. Schultze-Motel

6 islands · Apr – Jun 1972

W. Schultze-Motel across 6 islands, April – June 1972

161 specimens · 46 stops · 77 days · 448 km

Hugh Shaw MacKee

9 islands · Jul – Sep 1955

Hugh Shaw MacKee across 9 islands, July – September 1955

222 specimens · 28 stops · 64 days · 5,455 km

W.A. Whistler

3 islands · Jun – Aug 1972

W.A. Whistler in Upolu, Savaii and Tutuila, June – August 1972

175 specimens · 25 stops · 53 days · 464 km

William A. Setchell

3 islands · Jun – Jul 1920

William A. Setchell in Tutuila, Aunuu and Rose Atoll, June – July 1920

175 specimens · 32 stops · 51 days · 21 km

A.J. Eames

Upolu and Tutuila · Feb – Mar 1921

A.J. Eames in Upolu and Tutuila, February – March 1921

260 specimens · 10 stops · 33 days · 289 km

Gerrit Parmele Wilder

7 islands · Aug – Sep 1923

Gerrit Parmele Wilder across 7 islands, August – September 1923

171 specimens · 15 stops · 36 days · 5,391 km

Wray Harris

3 islands of Samoa · Jul – Aug 1937

Wray Harris in Upolu, Tutuila and Olosega, July – August 1937

284 specimens · 3 stops · 32 days · 258 km

W.A. Whistler

9 islands · Apr – Jun 1985

W.A. Whistler across 9 islands, April – June 1985

140 specimens · 32 stops · 75 days · 9,570 km

Edwin Horace Bryan Jr.

7 islands · Mar – Apr 1935

Edwin Horace Bryan Jr. across 7 islands, March – April 1935

175 specimens · 12 stops · 27 days · 12,205 km

Erling Christophersen

3 islands · Dec 1931 – Feb 1932

Erling Christophersen in Tutuila, Oʻahu and Upolu, December 1931 – February 1932

148 specimens · 8 stops · 47 days · 8,662 km

Otto Herman Swezey

6 islands · Jul – Sep 1923

Otto Herman Swezey across 6 islands, July – September 1923

95 specimens · 15 stops · 64 days · 824 km

Noel Louis Hilmer Krauss

13 islands · Dec 1976 – Apr 1977

Noel Louis Hilmer Krauss across 13 islands, December 1976 – April 1977

88 specimens · 27 stops · 104 days · 15,072 km

G.J. Spence

6 islands · Jan – Mar 1977

G.J. Spence across 6 islands, January – March 1977

88 specimens · 14 stops · 63 days · 10,053 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.