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. 13 journeys so far, 1922 to 1988, 4,544 specimens between them.

12 collectors and expeditions366 days in the field69,172 km between stops2,134 photographed specimens

Alastair M. Adamson

9 islands of French Polynesia · Aug – Dec 1929

Alastair M. Adamson across 9 islands of French Polynesia, August – December 1929

765 specimens · 27 stops · 140 days · 759 km

Ernest H. Quayle

25 islands · Jun – Nov 1922

Ernest H. Quayle across 25 islands, June – November 1922

642 specimens · 56 stops · 162 days · 7,539 km

Steven Perlman

7 islands · May – Aug 1988

Steven Perlman across 7 islands, May – August 1988

739 specimens · 31 stops · 95 days · 11,103 km

Wood Jones

22 islands · Jul – Dec 1922

Wood Jones across 22 islands, July – December 1922

478 specimens · 45 stops · 142 days · 3,823 km

Jacques Florence

8 islands of French Polynesia · Jun – Aug 1988

Jacques Florence across 8 islands of French Polynesia, June – August 1988

627 specimens · 15 stops · 60 days · 8,617 km

Betsy H. Gagne

11 islands · Jun – Sep 1977

Betsy H. Gagne across 11 islands, June – September 1977

480 specimens · 22 stops · 84 days · 12,628 km

B.G. Decker

8 islands · Jan – Jun 1964

B.G. Decker across 8 islands, January – June 1964

346 specimens · 39 stops · 147 days · 2,052 km

F.C. How

3 islands · Mar – Apr 1935

F.C. How in Hainan, Hainan Island and Hatutaa, March – April 1935

132 specimens · 5 stops · 32 days

Hessler Brown

13 islands of French Polynesia · Aug – Dec 1922

Hessler Brown across 13 islands of French Polynesia, August – December 1922

74 specimens · 29 stops · 137 days · 9,305 km

B.G. Decker

5 islands of French Polynesia · Jan – Apr 1960

B.G. Decker across 5 islands of French Polynesia, January – April 1960

69 specimens · 12 stops · 67 days · 865 km

M. Teikiteetini

4 islands of French Polynesia · Jul – Aug 1988

M. Teikiteetini across 4 islands of French Polynesia, July – August 1988

102 specimens · 3 stops · 30 days · 195 km

Crew of R

9 islands of French Polynesia · Sep – Oct 1967

Crew of R, September – October 1967

45 specimens · 11 stops · 50 days · 6,143 km

V. Pele

9 islands of French Polynesia · Sep – Oct 1967

V. Pele across 9 islands of French Polynesia, September – October 1967

45 specimens · 11 stops · 50 days · 6,143 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.