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. 5 journeys so far, 1924 to 1971, 1,792 specimens between them.
5 collectors and expeditions158 days in the field46,381 km between stops167 photographed specimens
5 journeys match
Jim Haywood
19 islands of French Polynesia · Dec 1970 – May 1971
Jim Haywood across 19 islands of French Polynesia, December 1970 – May 1971499 specimens · 36 stops · 162 days · 4,655 km
Robert H. Snider
14 islands · Sep 1964 – Jan 1965
Robert H. Snider across 14 islands, September 1964 – January 1965519 specimens · 28 stops · 139 days · 19,940 km


Gerrit Parmele Wilder
18 islands · Nov 1924 – May 1925
Gerrit Parmele Wilder across 18 islands, November 1924 – May 1925244 specimens · 43 stops · 188 days · 15,411 km
James Bryant
15 islands · Dec 1970 – May 1971
James Bryant across 15 islands, December 1970 – May 1971440 specimens · 31 stops · 149 days · 4,691 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
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.
