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. 1,980 journeys so far, 1874 to 2026, 356,126 specimens between them.
839 collectors and expeditions34,820 days in the field7,426,317 km between stops244,553 photographed specimens
1,980 journeys match
Derral R. Herbst
8 islands · Feb – Mar 1984
Derral R. Herbst across 8 islands, February – March 1984370 specimens · 9 stops · 18 days · 1,158 km
Otto Degener
4 islands · Nov – Dec 1960
Otto Degener across 4 islands, November – December 1960150 specimens · 23 stops · 43 days · 12,274 km
Derral R. Herbst
4 islands of the Northern Mariana Islands · Apr – May 1982
Derral R. Herbst across 4 islands of the Northern Mariana Islands, April – May 1982289 specimens · 15 stops · 24 days · 17,156 km
C.T. Imada
3 islands of the United States · 3–14 Mar 1988
C.T. Imada in Maui, Hawaiʻi Island and Kauaʻi, 3–14 March 1988221 specimens · 12 stops · 12 days · 211 km
Isa Degener
4 islands of the United States · Jun – Jul 1961
Isa Degener across 4 islands of the United States, June – July 1961147 specimens · 22 stops · 54 days · 560 km
Ismail Tukirin
3 islands of Indonesia · Feb – Mar 1990
Ismail Tukirin in Sulawesi, Suluwesi and Celebes, February – March 1990154 specimens · 23 stops · 33 days · 2,678 km
Kenneth R. Wood
9 islands · Jun – Nov 1997
Kenneth R. Wood across 9 islands, June – November 1997164 specimens · 33 stops · 139 days · 49,817 km

Walter M. Giffard
Hawaiʻi Island and Oʻahu · Jun – Jul 1928
Walter M. Giffard in Hawaiʻi Island and Oʻahu, June – July 1928299 specimens · 4 stops · 31 days · 87 km
W.J. Gilbert
5 islands of the United States · Feb – Jun 1959
W.J. Gilbert across 5 islands of the United States, February – June 1959116 specimens · 37 stops · 105 days · 3,345 km
Carl Skottsberg
7 islands of Chile · Nov 1916 – May 1917
Carl Skottsberg across 7 islands of Chile, November 1916 – May 1917122 specimens · 59 stops · 174 days
C.F. Puttock
4 islands of the United States · May – Jun 2000
C.F. Puttock across 4 islands of the United States, May – June 2000361 specimens · 8 stops · 30 days · 843 km
R.J. Catto
Hawaiʻi Island · 19–31 Dec 1937
R.J. Catto in Hawaiʻi Island, 19–31 December 1937219 specimens · 11 stops · 13 days
T. Matsui
5 islands of the United States · Feb – Sep 1959
T. Matsui across 5 islands of the United States, February – September 1959149 specimens · 23 stops · 206 days · 3,203 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
E.Y. Dawson
Okinawa and Luzon · Jan – Apr 1953
E.Y. Dawson in Okinawa and Luzon, January – April 1953138 specimens · 28 stops · 77 days · 1,234 km
Jr.William Ellsworth Fisher Jr.
4 islands of the United States · May – Jun 2000
Jr.William Ellsworth Fisher Jr. across 4 islands of the United States, May – June 2000357 specimens · 8 stops · 30 days · 843 km



Judson Linsley Gressitt
6 islands · Aug – Dec 1957
Judson Linsley Gressitt across 6 islands, August – December 1957131 specimens · 30 stops · 113 days · 9,370 km
R.S. Cowan
Kauaʻi · Dec 1947 – Jan 1948
R.S. Cowan in Kauaʻi, December 1947 – January 1948203 specimens · 12 stops · 20 days
Donald P. Abbott
9 islands · Jan – Mar 1957
Donald P. Abbott across 9 islands, January – March 1957161 specimens · 19 stops · 39 days
F. Raymond Fosberg
Oʻahu · Dec 1934 – Mar 1935
F. Raymond Fosberg in Oʻahu, December 1934 – March 1935148 specimens · 16 stops · 95 days · 731 km
Benjamin C. Stone
4 islands · Apr – May 1973
Benjamin C. Stone across 4 islands, April – May 1973147 specimens · 19 stops · 56 days
C. Squair
Molokaʻi and Hawaiʻi Island · Jul – Aug 2005
C. Squair in Molokaʻi and Hawaiʻi Island, July – August 2005350 specimens · 3 stops · 26 days · 451 km
Peter E. Russell
Oʻahu · Jun – Aug 1932
Peter E. Russell in Oʻahu, June – August 1932149 specimens · 20 stops · 42 days · 129 km
H.O. Whittier
3 islands of French Polynesia · Sep – Nov 1964
H.O. Whittier in Tahiti, Moorea and Taiarapu, September – November 1964131 specimens · 23 stops · 75 days · 43 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.
