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. 2,237 journeys so far, 1874 to 2026, 440,730 specimens between them.

965 collectors and expeditions37,623 days in the field7,838,218 km between stops330,332 photographed specimens

Otto Degener

3 islands of the United States · Oct 1948 – Apr 1949

Otto Degener in Maui, Oʻahu and Hawaiʻi Island, October 1948 – April 1949

115 specimens · 24 stops · 160 days · 1,125 km

Harold St.John

3 islands · 4–15 Apr 1938

Harold St.John in Lānaʻi, Maui and Rotuma, 4–15 April 1938

248 specimens · 6 stops · 12 days · 4,846 km

M.V.C. Falanruw

3 islands of the Northern Mariana Islands · Apr – May 1982

M.V.C. Falanruw in Rota, Tinian and Saipan, April – May 1982

265 specimens · 14 stops · 19 days · 217 km

Edwin Horace Bryan Jr.

4 islands of the United States · Jul – Sep 1927

Edwin Horace Bryan Jr. across 4 islands of the United States, July – September 1927

243 specimens · 11 stops · 55 days · 849 km

A. Meebold

4 islands · Oct – Dec 1929

A. Meebold across 4 islands, October – December 1929

163 specimens · 9 stops · 73 days · 9,986 km

Marie Catherine Neal

Hawaiʻi Island · 6–19 Aug 1935

Marie Catherine Neal in Hawaiʻi Island, 6–19 August 1935

200 specimens · 10 stops · 14 days · 24 km

Maxwell S. Doty

11 islands · Dec 1964 – Feb 1965

Maxwell S. Doty across 11 islands, December 1964 – February 1965

158 specimens · 14 stops · 38 days · 6,438 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

Edmund J. Meadows

Oʻahu · Mar – Apr 1938

Edmund J. Meadows in Oʻahu, March – April 1938

314 specimens · 3 stops · 20 days · 307 km

M.E. Leu

Oʻahu and Hawaiʻi Island · Apr – Jun 1988

M.E. Leu in Oʻahu and Hawaiʻi Island, April – June 1988

283 specimens · 10 stops · 70 days · 1,397 km

Peter H. Buck

Aug – Sep 1929

Peter H. Buck, August – September 1929

219 specimens · 5 stops · 40 days

J.R. Croft

3 islands of Papua New Guinea · May – Jun 1973

J.R. Croft in New Britain, Ott Island and Kakolan, May – June 1973

185 specimens · 9 stops · 38 days · 542 km

Henry E. Crampton

7 islands · Jun – Jul 1928

Henry E. Crampton across 7 islands, June – July 1928

198 specimens · 8 stops · 18 days · 1,618 km

R.J. Baker

Oʻahu · Nov 1989 – Jan 1990

R.J. Baker in Oʻahu, November 1989 – January 1990

345 specimens · 7 stops · 45 days

P.S. Vroom

7 islands · Jan – Feb 2004

P.S. Vroom across 7 islands, January – February 2004

336 specimens · 6 stops · 29 days · 7,651 km

E.F. Anderson

Thailand · Oct 1976 – Feb 1977

E.F. Anderson in Thailand, October 1976 – February 1977

118 specimens · 17 stops · 123 days · 2,502 km

Charles Montague Cooke Jr. 7 Others

3 islands · Sep – Oct 1934

Charles Montague Cooke Jr. 7 Others in Raiatea, Moorea and Tahiti, September – October 1934

311 specimens · 3 stops · 18 days · 225 km

J. Elbert

10 islands of Indonesia · Oct 1909 – Mar 1910

J. Elbert across 10 islands of Indonesia, October 1909 – March 1910

102 specimens · 26 stops · 142 days

J.S. Burley

3 islands · Sep – Oct 1987

J.S. Burley in Borneo, Sarawak and Luzon, September – October 1987

141 specimens · 15 stops · 45 days · 5,605 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

Jacques Florence

6 islands of French Polynesia · Nov – Dec 1982

Jacques Florence across 6 islands of French Polynesia, November – December 1982

276 specimens · 8 stops · 47 days · 3,804 km

L.M. Crago

Oʻahu and Hawaiʻi Island · Jan – Mar 2005

L.M. Crago in Oʻahu and Hawaiʻi Island, January – March 2005

144 specimens · 11 stops · 77 days · 893 km

Angela Kay Kepler

10 islands of Palau · 3–17 Jun 1992

Angela Kay Kepler across 10 islands of Palau, 3–17 June 1992

341 specimens · 6 stops · 15 days · 196 km

Sunaryo

3 islands of Indonesia · Apr – Jun 1994

Sunaryo in Sumba, E. Sumba and Nusa Tenggara Timor, April – June 1994

159 specimens · 11 stops · 40 days · 59 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.