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
30 journeys match


Edwin Horace Bryan Jr.
85 islands · Nov 1923 – Nov 1924
Edwin Horace Bryan Jr. across 85 islands, November 1923 – November 19242,392 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 1931761 specimens · 47 stops · 92 days · 225 km
M.M. Fleischer
13 islands · Feb – Jun 1903
M.M. Fleischer across 13 islands, February – June 1903411 specimens · 33 stops · 113 days · 52,279 km



Elwood Curtin Zimmerman
4 islands · May – Aug 1940
Elwood Curtin Zimmerman across 4 islands, May – August 1940616 specimens · 10 stops · 86 days · 181 km
Truman George Yuncker
6 islands · Sep – Dec 1939
Truman George Yuncker across 6 islands, September – December 1939573 specimens · 26 stops · 81 days · 2,624 km
Erling Christophersen
3 islands · Aug – Sep 1929
Erling Christophersen in Upolu, Tutuila and Ofu, August – September 1929587 specimens · 24 stops · 37 days · 31 km
W.A. Whistler
7 islands · May – Aug 1975
W.A. Whistler across 7 islands, May – August 1975447 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 1977301 specimens · 62 stops · 237 days · 2,182 km
C.R. Long
24 islands · Apr – Jul 1964
C.R. Long across 24 islands, April – July 1964264 specimens · 39 stops · 91 days · 15,404 km
W.A. Whistler
8 islands · Jan – Apr 1974
W.A. Whistler across 8 islands, January – April 1974352 specimens · 31 stops · 99 days · 522 km

Erling Christophersen
5 islands · Oct – Nov 1929
Erling Christophersen across 5 islands, October – November 1929315 specimens · 20 stops · 44 days · 283 km
W. Schultze-Motel
6 islands · Apr – Jun 1972
W. Schultze-Motel across 6 islands, April – June 1972161 specimens · 46 stops · 77 days · 448 km
Hugh Shaw MacKee
9 islands · Jul – Sep 1955
Hugh Shaw MacKee across 9 islands, July – September 1955222 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 1972175 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 1920175 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 1921260 specimens · 10 stops · 33 days · 289 km

Gerrit Parmele Wilder
7 islands · Aug – Sep 1923
Gerrit Parmele Wilder across 7 islands, August – September 1923171 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 1937284 specimens · 3 stops · 32 days · 258 km
W.A. Whistler
9 islands · Apr – Jun 1985
W.A. Whistler across 9 islands, April – June 1985140 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 1935175 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 1932148 specimens · 8 stops · 47 days · 8,662 km



Otto Herman Swezey
6 islands · Jul – Sep 1923
Otto Herman Swezey across 6 islands, July – September 192395 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 197788 specimens · 27 stops · 104 days · 15,072 km
G.J. Spence
6 islands · Jan – Mar 1977
G.J. Spence across 6 islands, January – March 197788 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.
