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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. 23 journeys so far, 1923 to 1929, 9,279 specimens between them.

12 collectors and expeditions743 days in the field432,047 km between stops6,608 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

Edward Philpott Mumford

8 islands of French Polynesia · Aug – Dec 1929

Edward Philpott Mumford across 8 islands of French Polynesia, August – December 1929

774 specimens · 26 stops · 140 days · 795 km

Alastair M. Adamson

9 islands of French Polynesia · Aug – Dec 1929

Alastair M. Adamson across 9 islands of French Polynesia, August – December 1929

765 specimens · 27 stops · 140 days · 759 km

Ditlev Due Thaanum

10 islands of the United States · May – Aug 1923

Ditlev Due Thaanum across 10 islands of the United States, May – August 1923

918 specimens · 15 stops · 96 days · 11,766 km

Gerrit Parmele Wilder

4 islands · Feb – Sep 1929

Gerrit Parmele Wilder across 4 islands, February – September 1929

605 specimens · 77 stops · 205 days · 5,048 km

Edwin Horace Bryan Jr.

6 islands of the United States · May – Sep 1923

Edwin Horace Bryan Jr. across 6 islands of the United States, May – September 1923

837 specimens · 23 stops · 122 days · 69,538 km

Gerrit Parmele Wilder

18 islands · Nov 1924 – May 1925

Gerrit Parmele Wilder across 18 islands, November 1924 – May 1925

244 specimens · 43 stops · 188 days · 15,411 km

Hans George Hornbostel

Rota and Guam · Jul – Aug 1925

Hans George Hornbostel in Rota and Guam, July – August 1925

626 specimens · 3 stops · 36 days · 33,878 km

Ted E. should Be D. Dranga

3 islands · May – Jul 1925

Ted E. should Be D. Dranga in Maui, Kahoʻolawe and Pearl and Hermes Atoll, May – July 1925

281 specimens · 9 stops · 53 days · 270 km

Hans George Hornbostel

Guam · Jun – Jul 1923

Hans George Hornbostel in Guam, June – July 1923

296 specimens · 14 stops · 60 days · 221,255 km

Alastair M. Adamson

Tahiti and Moorea · Oct – Dec 1928

Alastair M. Adamson in Tahiti and Moorea, October – December 1928

203 specimens · 15 stops · 49 days · 153 km

Stanley Ball

7 islands · Nov 1924 – Jan 1925

Stanley Ball across 7 islands, November 1924 – January 1925

174 specimens · 14 stops · 43 days · 3,291 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

Ted E. should Be D. Dranga

6 islands · 1–24 May 1923

Ted E. should Be D. Dranga across 6 islands, 1–24 May 1923

157 specimens · 12 stops · 24 days · 3,034 km

Harold E. Parks

Rarotonga · May – Jul 1929

Harold E. Parks in Rarotonga, May – July 1929

115 specimens · 17 stops · 69 days

Gerrit Parmele Wilder

3 islands · Jul – Dec 1926

Gerrit Parmele Wilder in Moorea, Tahiti and Penrhyn Atoll, July – December 1926

77 specimens · 29 stops · 145 days · 451 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

Tanager Expedition

3 islands · Jul – Aug 1923

Tanager Expedition, July – August 1923

160 specimens · 5 stops · 35 days · 20,287 km

Ted E. should Be D. Dranga

3 islands · 1–6 Apr 1927

Ted E. should Be D. Dranga in Pearl and Hermes Atoll, Nihoa and Maui, 1–6 April 1927

147 specimens · 2 stops · 6 days · 1,490 km

Stanley Ball

5 islands of the United States · Mar – May 1923

Stanley Ball across 5 islands of the United States, March – May 1923

72 specimens · 12 stops · 60 days · 3,896 km

Stanley Ball

Oʻahu · Oct 1925 – Feb 1926

Stanley Ball in Oʻahu, October 1925 – February 1926

43 specimens · 21 stops · 123 days

Tanager Expedition

10 islands of the United States · Apr – Jun 1923

Tanager Expedition, April – June 1923

60 specimens · 8 stops · 62 days · 2,174 km

Whippoorwill Expedition

6 islands · Jul – Aug 1924

Whippoorwill Expedition, July – August 1924

67 specimens · 5 stops · 24 days · 1,409 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.