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. 13 journeys so far, 1933 to 2013, 5,844 specimens between them.

10 collectors and expeditions416 days in the field311,438 km between stops2,353 photographed specimens

F. Raymond Fosberg

56 islands · Apr – Nov 1946

F. Raymond Fosberg across 56 islands, April – November 1946

2,439 specimens · 102 stops · 209 days · 105,682 km

F. Raymond Fosberg

21 islands · Jan – Apr 1950

F. Raymond Fosberg across 21 islands, January – April 1950

939 specimens · 61 stops · 96 days · 90,398 km

F. Raymond Fosberg

28 islands · Jun – Sep 1965

F. Raymond Fosberg across 28 islands, June – September 1965

606 specimens · 53 stops · 87 days · 32,275 km

T. Hosokawa

17 islands · Jul – Nov 1933

T. Hosokawa across 17 islands, July – November 1933

500 specimens · 50 stops · 137 days · 17,296 km

Robert Hobdy

17 islands · Apr – Aug 1982

Robert Hobdy across 17 islands, April – August 1982

250 specimens · 24 stops · 106 days · 16,977 km

Harold St.John

16 islands · Jun – Aug 1956

Harold St.John across 16 islands, June – August 1956

140 specimens · 31 stops · 69 days · 26,065 km

Joan E. Canfield

5 islands of Palau · 16–29 Jul 1991

Joan E. Canfield across 5 islands of Palau, 16–29 July 1991

234 specimens · 14 stops · 14 days · 414 km

Derral R. Herbst

6 islands of Palau · 16–29 Jul 1991

Derral R. Herbst across 6 islands of Palau, 16–29 July 1991

232 specimens · 14 stops · 14 days · 414 km

R.L. Stemmermann

5 islands of Palau · 16–29 Jul 1991

R.L. Stemmermann across 5 islands of Palau, 16–29 July 1991

231 specimens · 14 stops · 14 days · 414 km

A. Kitalong

3 islands · 4–15 Nov 2013

A. Kitalong in Palau, Palao and Ngeruktabel, 4–15 November 2013

93 specimens · 8 stops · 12 days

W. Law

10 islands · Jan – Feb 2008

W. Law across 10 islands, January – February 2008

76 specimens · 9 stops · 24 days · 139 km

Gregory Plunkett

3 islands · 4–21 Nov 2013

Gregory Plunkett in Palau, Palao and Ngeruktabel, 4–21 November 2013

57 specimens · 5 stops · 18 days

Joan E. Canfield

8 islands of Palau · Dec 1977 – Mar 1978

Joan E. Canfield across 8 islands of Palau, December 1977 – March 1978

47 specimens · 11 stops · 80 days · 21,364 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.