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. 12 journeys so far, 1981 to 1988, 3,212 specimens between them.

7 collectors and expeditions262 days in the field89,601 km between stops863 photographed specimens

F. Raymond Fosberg

6 islands · May – Jul 1982

F. Raymond Fosberg across 6 islands, May – July 1982

691 specimens · 46 stops · 88 days · 10,015 km

Jacques Florence

8 islands of French Polynesia · Jun – Aug 1988

Jacques Florence across 8 islands of French Polynesia, June – August 1988

627 specimens · 15 stops · 60 days · 8,617 km

F. Raymond Fosberg

6 islands · Jun – Aug 1981

F. Raymond Fosberg across 6 islands, June – August 1981

350 specimens · 25 stops · 47 days · 39,992 km

Steven L. Montgomery

9 islands of French Polynesia · Jul – Oct 1988

Steven L. Montgomery across 9 islands of French Polynesia, July – October 1988

277 specimens · 18 stops · 73 days · 10,669 km

Betsy H. Gagne

7 islands of French Polynesia · Jul – Sep 1988

Betsy H. Gagne across 7 islands of French Polynesia, July – September 1988

267 specimens · 15 stops · 68 days · 10,816 km

Jacques Florence

6 islands of French Polynesia · Nov – Dec 1982

Jacques Florence across 6 islands of French Polynesia, November – December 1982

276 specimens · 8 stops · 47 days · 3,804 km

M.-H Sachet

5 islands of French Polynesia · Jun – Jul 1982

M.-H Sachet across 5 islands of French Polynesia, June – July 1982

169 specimens · 12 stops · 28 days · 297 km

Jacques Florence

Nuku Hiva and Moorea · Jul – Aug 1987

Jacques Florence in Nuku Hiva and Moorea, July – August 1987

128 specimens · 11 stops · 62 days · 4,316 km

P.H. Birnbaum

4 islands of French Polynesia · Sep – Nov 1988

P.H. Birnbaum across 4 islands of French Polynesia, September – November 1988

110 specimens · 13 stops · 79 days · 698 km

Jacques Florence

Moorea and Makatea · Dec 1981 – Jan 1982

Jacques Florence in Moorea and Makatea, December 1981 – January 1982

114 specimens · 6 stops · 22 days · 282 km

J.C. Jolinon

4 islands of French Polynesia · Jan – Feb 1987

J.C. Jolinon across 4 islands of French Polynesia, January – February 1987

49 specimens · 15 stops · 53 days · 85 km

Jacques Florence

Moorea · 8–21 Aug 1983

Jacques Florence in Moorea, 8–21 August 1983

154 specimens · 2 stops · 14 days · 10 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.