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, 1930 to 1993, 18,489 specimens between them.
11 collectors and expeditions588 days in the field112,653 km between stops16,177 photographed specimens
12 journeys match



Donald Anderson
34 islands · Apr – Oct 1934
Donald Anderson across 34 islands, April – October 19348,872 specimens · 35 stops · 202 days · 16,221 km



Clarence H. Cooke Jr.
26 islands · Apr – Oct 1934
Clarence H. Cooke Jr. across 26 islands, April – October 19343,369 specimens · 39 stops · 184 days · 14,736 km
F. Raymond Fosberg
32 islands · Apr – Oct 1934
F. Raymond Fosberg across 32 islands, April – October 19342,503 specimens · 85 stops · 201 days · 23,387 km



Elwood Curtin Zimmerman
21 islands · Feb – Oct 1934
Elwood Curtin Zimmerman across 21 islands, February – October 19341,714 specimens · 56 stops · 248 days · 12,587 km

Martin L. Grant
8 islands of French Polynesia · Nov 1930 – Feb 1931
Martin L. Grant across 8 islands of French Polynesia, November 1930 – February 1931822 specimens · 31 stops · 90 days · 1,081 km
Steven L. Montgomery
9 islands of French Polynesia · Jul – Oct 1988
Steven L. Montgomery across 9 islands of French Polynesia, July – October 1988277 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 1988267 specimens · 15 stops · 68 days · 10,816 km
Jan Newhouse
6 islands · Dec 1968 – Feb 1969
Jan Newhouse across 6 islands, December 1968 – February 1969162 specimens · 13 stops · 62 days · 4,798 km
Jan Newhouse
3 islands of French Polynesia · 2–24 Aug 1967
Jan Newhouse in Tahiti, Bora Bora and Moorea, 2–24 August 1967139 specimens · 18 stops · 23 days · 941 km
P.F. Hunt
6 islands · Jul – Nov 1965
P.F. Hunt across 6 islands, July – November 196569 specimens · 35 stops · 147 days · 15,687 km



Dennis M. Devaney
8 islands · Feb – Mar 1971
Dennis M. Devaney across 8 islands, February – March 197190 specimens · 13 stops · 41 days · 1,684 km
Jacques Florence
Bora Bora and Raiatea · Nov – Dec 1993
Jacques Florence in Bora Bora and Raiatea, November – December 1993205 specimens · 2 stops · 15 days · 46 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.
