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. 17 journeys so far, 1930 to 1993, 41,020 specimens between them.

16 collectors and expeditions881 days in the field144,983 km between stops38,708 photographed specimens

Mangarevan Expedition

29 islands · May – Nov 1934

Mangarevan Expedition, May – November 1934

15,215 specimens · 33 stops · 173 days · 12,849 km

Donald Anderson

34 islands · Apr – Oct 1934

Donald Anderson across 34 islands, April – October 1934

8,872 specimens · 35 stops · 202 days · 16,221 km

Yoshio Kondo

16 islands · May – Oct 1934

Yoshio Kondo across 16 islands, May – October 1934

4,915 specimens · 25 stops · 146 days · 6,036 km

Clarence H. Cooke Jr.

26 islands · Apr – Oct 1934

Clarence H. Cooke Jr. across 26 islands, April – October 1934

3,369 specimens · 39 stops · 184 days · 14,736 km

F. Raymond Fosberg

32 islands · Apr – Oct 1934

F. Raymond Fosberg across 32 islands, April – October 1934

2,503 specimens · 85 stops · 201 days · 23,387 km

Elwood Curtin Zimmerman

21 islands · Feb – Oct 1934

Elwood Curtin Zimmerman across 21 islands, February – October 1934

1,714 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 1931

822 specimens · 31 stops · 90 days · 1,081 km

Fosberg F. Raymond

14 islands · May – Oct 1934

Fosberg F. Raymond across 14 islands, May – October 1934

693 specimens · 14 stops · 144 days · 6,414 km

Gessler

6 islands · Sep – Oct 1934

Gessler across 6 islands, September – October 1934

1,072 specimens · 6 stops · 30 days · 2,403 km

St. John Harold

12 islands · May – Oct 1934

St. John Harold across 12 islands, May – October 1934

636 specimens · 13 stops · 142 days · 4,628 km

Steven L. Montgomery

9 islands of French Polynesia · Jul – Oct 1988

Steven L. Montgomery across 9 islands of French Polynesia, July – October 1988

277 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 1988

267 specimens · 15 stops · 68 days · 10,816 km

Jan Newhouse

6 islands · Dec 1968 – Feb 1969

Jan Newhouse across 6 islands, December 1968 – February 1969

162 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 1967

139 specimens · 18 stops · 23 days · 941 km

P.F. Hunt

6 islands · Jul – Nov 1965

P.F. Hunt across 6 islands, July – November 1965

69 specimens · 35 stops · 147 days · 15,687 km

Dennis M. Devaney

8 islands · Feb – Mar 1971

Dennis M. Devaney across 8 islands, February – March 1971

90 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 1993

205 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.