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. 64 journeys so far, 1900 to 1998, 15,631 specimens between them.

29 collectors and expeditions1,761 days in the field882,164 km between stops2,599 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

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

12 islands · Jun – Sep 1973

Johnson Randall across 12 islands, June – September 1973

770 specimens · 45 stops · 83 days · 15,630 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

Johnson Randall

10 islands · Jan – Apr 1973

Johnson Randall across 10 islands, January – April 1973

499 specimens · 49 stops · 110 days · 10,184 km

Johnson Randall

10 islands · May – Jul 1975

Johnson Randall across 10 islands, May – July 1975

457 specimens · 30 stops · 79 days · 14,699 km

Johnson Randall

15 islands of Palau · Mar – May 1970

Johnson Randall across 15 islands of Palau, March – May 1970

432 specimens · 21 stops · 54 days · 44,188 km

Johnson Randall

5 islands of Micronesia · Jun – Nov 1969

Johnson Randall across 5 islands of Micronesia, June – November 1969

322 specimens · 40 stops · 139 days · 27,973 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

John L. Earle

18 islands · Sep – Dec 1993

John L. Earle across 18 islands, September – December 1993

336 specimens · 27 stops · 81 days · 26,222 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

station

16 islands · Jul – Dec 1955

station, July – December 1955

196 specimens · 82 stops · 144 days · 48,394 km

Gerald R. Allen

5 islands · Jan – May 1969

Gerald R. Allen across 5 islands, January – May 1969

248 specimens · 25 stops · 109 days · 10,864 km

station

4 islands of the United States · Mar – May 1968

station, March – May 1968

346 specimens · 11 stops · 41 days · 932 km

Johnson Randall

20 islands · Aug – Dec 1993

Johnson Randall across 20 islands, August – December 1993

214 specimens · 31 stops · 114 days · 29,910 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

A.R. Emery

11 islands of Palau · Mar – Apr 1970

A.R. Emery across 11 islands of Palau, March – April 1970

294 specimens · 18 stops · 28 days · 43,958 km

V Townsend Cromwell cruise 40

3 islands of the United States · Nov – Dec 1968

V Townsend Cromwell cruise 40, November – December 1968

344 specimens · 7 stops · 28 days · 298 km

station

3 islands of the United States · Nov – Dec 1968

station, November – December 1968

344 specimens · 7 stops · 28 days · 298 km

Johnson Randall

3 islands of the United States · Oct – Dec 1967

Johnson Randall in Enewetak Atoll, Oʻahu and Tahiti, October – December 1967

238 specimens · 14 stops · 40 days · 20,674 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

John L. Earle

7 islands · Jul – Sep 1991

John L. Earle across 7 islands, July – September 1991

180 specimens · 19 stops · 78 days · 2,979 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.