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, 1936 to 2000, 4,620 specimens between them.

7 collectors and expeditions660 days in the field102,894 km between stops964 photographed specimens

Johnson Randall

35 islands · Feb – Sep 1977

Johnson Randall across 35 islands, February – September 1977

1,178 specimens · 101 stops · 216 days · 16,972 km

Johnson Randall

20 islands · Aug – Nov 1987

Johnson Randall across 20 islands, August – November 1987

700 specimens · 51 stops · 87 days · 9,036 km

J.A. McDonald

7 islands · Apr – Sep 1994

J.A. McDonald across 7 islands, April – September 1994

359 specimens · 33 stops · 154 days · 3,611 km

Johnson Randall

11 islands · Aug – Oct 1988

Johnson Randall across 11 islands, August – October 1988

522 specimens · 31 stops · 72 days · 5,627 km

Neth. Ind. For. Service

14 islands · Apr 1939 – Jan 1940

Neth. Ind. For. Service, April 1939 – January 1940

171 specimens · 91 stops · 272 days · 40,249 km

Johnson Randall

8 islands of the Marshall Islands · Sep – Dec 1982

Johnson Randall across 8 islands of the Marshall Islands, September – December 1982

435 specimens · 30 stops · 84 days · 895 km

Afrastini Ismail

3 islands · Jun – Aug 1994

Afrastini Ismail in Bali Timur, Bali and Oʻahu, June – August 1994

196 specimens · 18 stops · 86 days · 105 km

Johnson Randall

4 islands · Jan – Mar 1984

Johnson Randall across 4 islands, January – March 1984

376 specimens · 20 stops · 38 days

Johnson Randall

20 islands of Indonesia · Sep – Nov 1986

Johnson Randall across 20 islands of Indonesia, September – November 1986

166 specimens · 27 stops · 52 days · 1,511 km

Neth. Ind. For. Service

11 islands · Feb – Aug 1938

Neth. Ind. For. Service, February – August 1938

63 specimens · 45 stops · 174 days · 15,218 km

S.B. Bloembergen

7 islands of Indonesia · Jul – Oct 1939

S.B. Bloembergen across 7 islands of Indonesia, July – October 1939

57 specimens · 29 stops · 90 days

van Steenis

4 islands · 1–17 Apr 1936

van Steenis across 4 islands, 1–17 April 1936

83 specimens · 12 stops · 17 days

van Balgooy

Java and Bali · Sep – Oct 1985

van Balgooy in Java and Bali, September – October 1985

72 specimens · 10 stops · 37 days

Johnson Randall

12 islands of Indonesia · Oct – Nov 1990

Johnson Randall across 12 islands of Indonesia, October – November 1990

76 specimens · 15 stops · 28 days · 1,705 km

Johnson Randall

7 islands of Indonesia · Sep – Oct 2000

Johnson Randall across 7 islands of Indonesia, September – October 2000

46 specimens · 21 stops · 55 days · 6,018 km

Johnson Randall

4 islands · Nov – Dec 1996

Johnson Randall across 4 islands, November – December 1996

58 specimens · 10 stops · 18 days · 1,947 km

Johnson Randall

4 islands · Oct – Nov 1991

Johnson Randall across 4 islands, October – November 1991

62 specimens · 8 stops · 19 days

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.