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. 225 journeys so far, 1910 to 2022, 50,781 specimens between them.

128 collectors and expeditions4,399 days in the field479,458 km between stops39,327 photographed specimens

Harold St.John

3 islands · Feb – Jul 1933

Harold St.John in Oʻahu, Molokaʻi and Mangareva, February – July 1933

379 specimens · 23 stops · 151 days · 11,376 km

Paul K. Higashino

4 islands of the United States · May – Aug 1980

Paul K. Higashino across 4 islands of the United States, May – August 1980

421 specimens · 25 stops · 98 days · 946 km

Truman George Yuncker

3 islands of the United States · Aug 1932 – Jan 1933

Truman George Yuncker in Molokaʻi, Oʻahu and Kauaʻi, August 1932 – January 1933

335 specimens · 35 stops · 150 days · 463 km

W.G. Anderson William G. Anderson Jr.

5 islands of the United States · Jun – Aug 1964

W.G. Anderson William G. Anderson Jr. across 5 islands of the United States, June – August 1964

424 specimens · 20 stops · 65 days · 2,387 km

Clarence H. Cooke Jr.

Molokaʻi · 5–20 Feb 1919

Clarence H. Cooke Jr. in Molokaʻi, 5–20 February 1919

655 specimens · 9 stops · 16 days · 64 km

Clarence H. Cooke Jr.

Molokaʻi · Jul – Aug 1912

Clarence H. Cooke Jr. in Molokaʻi, July – August 1912

589 specimens · 9 stops · 32 days · 196 km

Harold St.John

11 islands · Oct 1957 – Feb 1958

Harold St.John across 11 islands, October 1957 – February 1958

325 specimens · 61 stops · 125 days · 23,583 km

P.H. McEldowney

Maui and Molokaʻi · May – Aug 1980

P.H. McEldowney in Maui and Molokaʻi, May – August 1980

394 specimens · 23 stops · 119 days · 780 km

T. Murashige

6 islands of the United States · May – Sep 1949

T. Murashige across 6 islands of the United States, May – September 1949

317 specimens · 39 stops · 99 days · 1,334 km

Otto Degener

5 islands of the United States · Jun – Sep 1963

Otto Degener across 5 islands of the United States, June – September 1963

301 specimens · 31 stops · 92 days · 1,016 km

Clarence H. Cooke Jr.

Maui and Molokaʻi · May – Jun 1915

Clarence H. Cooke Jr. in Maui and Molokaʻi, May – June 1915

671 specimens · 5 stops · 20 days · 131 km

Otto Degener

6 islands · Jun 1950 – Jan 1951

Otto Degener across 6 islands, June 1950 – January 1951

256 specimens · 41 stops · 236 days · 2,367 km

Alastair M. Adamson

Molokaʻi and Kauaʻi · May – Jul 1928

Alastair M. Adamson in Molokaʻi and Kauaʻi, May – July 1928

468 specimens · 12 stops · 50 days · 321 km

Isa Degener

5 islands of the United States · Jun – Sep 1963

Isa Degener across 5 islands of the United States, June – September 1963

281 specimens · 31 stops · 92 days · 1,019 km

A.S. Hitchcock

6 islands of the United States · Jun – Oct 1916

A.S. Hitchcock across 6 islands of the United States, June – October 1916

239 specimens · 51 stops · 142 days · 1,990 km

Maxwell S. Doty

11 islands · Sep 1953 – Aug 1954

Maxwell S. Doty across 11 islands, September 1953 – August 1954

309 specimens · 40 stops · 315 days · 78,333 km

Clarence H. Cooke Jr.

4 islands of the United States · Jan – Mar 1913

Clarence H. Cooke Jr. across 4 islands of the United States, January – March 1913

422 specimens · 10 stops · 45 days · 815 km

C.F. Mant

Molokaʻi and Oʻahu · May – Aug 1919

C.F. Mant in Molokaʻi and Oʻahu, May – August 1919

294 specimens · 22 stops · 93 days · 568 km

Derral R. Herbst

5 islands of the United States · Jan – May 1976

Derral R. Herbst across 5 islands of the United States, January – May 1976

285 specimens · 26 stops · 108 days · 1,983 km

Pils

4 islands · Jan – Mar 1913

Pils across 4 islands, January – March 1913

362 specimens · 13 stops · 54 days · 1,100 km

Harold St.John

4 islands of the United States · Sep 1952 – Feb 1953

Harold St.John across 4 islands of the United States, September 1952 – February 1953

271 specimens · 28 stops · 151 days · 1,245 km

Benjamin C. Stone

4 islands of the United States · Feb – Jun 1960

Benjamin C. Stone across 4 islands of the United States, February – June 1960

273 specimens · 22 stops · 115 days · 2,148 km

S. Carlquist

14 islands · Jun – Oct 1966

S. Carlquist across 14 islands, June – October 1966

208 specimens · 55 stops · 112 days · 6,722 km

Charles N. Forbes

3 islands of the United States · Jan – Apr 1915

Charles N. Forbes in Molokaʻi, Oʻahu and Hawaiʻi Island, January – April 1915

353 specimens · 21 stops · 65 days · 233 km

How a journey is found

Every specimen with a full date (year, month and day; a bare “1 January” is treated as a missing day) and a named collector is a diary entry. For each collector the days are read in order, each day given the place most of its labels name. The place where a collector spent more than forty percent of their days, and at least sixty of them, is home: days there are left out.

A gap of more than 21 days between collecting days ends one journey and begins the next. A journey must run five to four hundred days, hold at least forty specimens and touch at least two places. Within it, consecutive days inside the same or a neighbouring tenth-of-a-degree cell (about eleven kilometres) are one stop; the stop’s point is the mean of its labels’ coordinates, or the island’s centre when none carry any.

Companions are collectors whose own labels put them in the same cell on the same days. Staff can name a journey, write about it, feature it or hide it; those words survive every rebuild. Everything else is read off the specimens and rebuilt by harvest.mjs expeditions as the records improve.