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. 10 journeys so far, 1920 to 2001, 3,763 specimens between them.

8 collectors and expeditions223 days in the field43,509 km between stops2,785 photographed specimens

Ted E. should Be D. Dranga

7 islands · Feb – Jun 1926

Ted E. should Be D. Dranga across 7 islands, February – June 1926

1,074 specimens · 11 stops · 138 days · 19,175 km

Elwood Curtin Zimmerman

4 islands · May – Aug 1940

Elwood Curtin Zimmerman across 4 islands, May – August 1940

616 specimens · 10 stops · 86 days · 181 km

W.A. Whistler

11 islands · May 1976 – Jan 1977

W.A. Whistler across 11 islands, May 1976 – January 1977

301 specimens · 62 stops · 237 days · 2,182 km

Erling Christophersen

5 islands · Oct – Nov 1929

Erling Christophersen across 5 islands, October – November 1929

315 specimens · 20 stops · 44 days · 283 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

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

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

Rebecca J. Rundell

3 islands · 20–28 Feb 2001

Rebecca J. Rundell in Olosega, Tutuila and Aunuu, 20–28 February 2001

170 specimens · 4 stops · 9 days · 197 km

W.A. Whistler

5 islands · Dec 1975 – Jan 1976

W.A. Whistler across 5 islands, December 1975 – January 1976

43 specimens · 13 stops · 21 days · 509 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.