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. 71 journeys so far, 1903 to 2008, 26,776 specimens between them.

44 collectors and expeditions1,636 days in the field622,923 km between stops19,199 photographed specimens

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

Erling Christophersen

5 islands · Oct – Nov 1929

Erling Christophersen across 5 islands, October – November 1929

315 specimens · 20 stops · 44 days · 283 km

W. Schultze-Motel

6 islands · Apr – Jun 1972

W. Schultze-Motel across 6 islands, April – June 1972

161 specimens · 46 stops · 77 days · 448 km

Robert H. Cowie

Tutuila and Hawaiʻi Island · 3–16 Mar 1998

Robert H. Cowie in Tutuila and Hawaiʻi Island, 3–16 March 1998

511 specimens · 12 stops · 14 days

Hugh Shaw MacKee

9 islands · Jul – Sep 1955

Hugh Shaw MacKee across 9 islands, July – September 1955

222 specimens · 28 stops · 64 days · 5,455 km

C.R. Long

9 islands · Jun – Jul 1965

C.R. Long across 9 islands, June – July 1965

244 specimens · 17 stops · 33 days · 2,563 km

W.A. Whistler

3 islands · Jun – Aug 1972

W.A. Whistler in Upolu, Savaii and Tutuila, June – August 1972

175 specimens · 25 stops · 53 days · 464 km

William A. Setchell

3 islands · Jun – Jul 1920

William A. Setchell in Tutuila, Aunuu and Rose Atoll, June – July 1920

175 specimens · 32 stops · 51 days · 21 km

Ted E. should Be D. Dranga

4 islands · Dec 1925 – Jan 1926

Ted E. should Be D. Dranga across 4 islands, December 1925 – January 1926

365 specimens · 3 stops · 39 days · 8,285 km

A.J. Eames

Upolu and Tutuila · Feb – Mar 1921

A.J. Eames in Upolu and Tutuila, February – March 1921

260 specimens · 10 stops · 33 days · 289 km

A. Meebold

3 islands · Jun – Jul 1932

A. Meebold in Viti Levu, Oʻahu and Tutuila, June – July 1932

336 specimens · 4 stops · 31 days · 5,857 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

Robert H. Cowie

5 islands · Feb – Apr 2001

Robert H. Cowie across 5 islands, February – April 2001

353 specimens · 8 stops · 44 days · 8,534 km

Erling Christophersen

3 islands · Oct 1924 – Jan 1925

Erling Christophersen in Oʻahu, Tutuila and Hawaiʻi Island, October 1924 – January 1925

126 specimens · 16 stops · 85 days · 17,725 km

Wray Harris

3 islands of Samoa · Jul – Aug 1937

Wray Harris in Upolu, Tutuila and Olosega, July – August 1937

284 specimens · 3 stops · 32 days · 258 km

W.A. Whistler

9 islands · Apr – Jun 1985

W.A. Whistler across 9 islands, April – June 1985

140 specimens · 32 stops · 75 days · 9,570 km

L.A. Thurston L.A. ThurstonL.A. Thurston

4 islands · 1–15 Dec 1925

L.A. Thurston L.A. ThurstonL.A. Thurston across 4 islands, 1–15 December 1925

351 specimens · 2 stops · 15 days · 4,142 km

D. Wesley Garber

3 islands of American Samoa · May – Jul 1925

D. Wesley Garber in Ofu, Olosega and Tutuila, May – July 1925

143 specimens · 16 stops · 42 days · 209 km

Edwin Horace Bryan Jr.

7 islands · Mar – Apr 1935

Edwin Horace Bryan Jr. across 7 islands, March – April 1935

175 specimens · 12 stops · 27 days · 12,205 km

D. Wesley Garber

Tutuila and Goat Island · Nov 1924 – Jan 1925

D. Wesley Garber in Tutuila and Goat Island, November 1924 – January 1925

170 specimens · 9 stops · 38 days

Edwin Horace Bryan Jr.

14 islands · Jul – Sep 1938

Edwin Horace Bryan Jr. across 14 islands, July – September 1938

131 specimens · 17 stops · 49 days · 11,700 km

Erling Christophersen

3 islands · Dec 1931 – Feb 1932

Erling Christophersen in Tutuila, Oʻahu and Upolu, December 1931 – February 1932

148 specimens · 8 stops · 47 days · 8,662 km

Otto Herman Swezey

6 islands · Jul – Sep 1923

Otto Herman Swezey across 6 islands, July – September 1923

95 specimens · 15 stops · 64 days · 824 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.