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. 47 journeys so far, 1900 to 2007, 15,077 specimens between them.

23 collectors and expeditions1,367 days in the field734,093 km between stops7,939 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

Johnson Randall

25 islands · Mar – Dec 1968

Johnson Randall across 25 islands, March – December 1968

1,676 specimens · 99 stops · 261 days · 106,577 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

Gerrit Parmele Wilder

3 islands of the United States · Jul 1930 – Jun 1931

Gerrit Parmele Wilder in Oʻahu, Laysan and Molokaʻi, July 1930 – June 1931

435 specimens · 74 stops · 343 days · 5,041 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

Johnson Randall

6 islands of Chile · Jan – Mar 1969

Johnson Randall across 6 islands of Chile, January – March 1969

503 specimens · 38 stops · 78 days · 8,647 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

David Timmins Fullaway

4 islands of the United States · Feb – Mar 1930

David Timmins Fullaway across 4 islands of the United States, February – March 1930

477 specimens · 5 stops · 42 days · 259 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

Johnson Randall

13 islands · Feb – Jun 1979

Johnson Randall across 13 islands, February – June 1979

344 specimens · 33 stops · 111 days · 11,568 km

Alvin Seale

3 islands · Mar – Jul 1900

Alvin Seale in Guam, Kauaʻi and Oʻahu, March – July 1900

321 specimens · 26 stops · 129 days · 12,804 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

Johnson Randall

9 islands · Jul – Oct 1967

Johnson Randall across 9 islands, July – October 1967

303 specimens · 29 stops · 95 days · 2,620 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

Johnson Randall

5 islands · Jun – Dec 1971

Johnson Randall across 5 islands, June – December 1971

221 specimens · 23 stops · 158 days · 27,137 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

Alvin Seale

5 islands · May – Jun 1903

Alvin Seale across 5 islands, May – June 1903

311 specimens · 7 stops · 32 days · 1,333 km

Johnson Randall

8 islands · Jun – Sep 1986

Johnson Randall across 8 islands, June – September 1986

167 specimens · 23 stops · 68 days · 75,616 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.