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

Ralph C. DeFelice

Oʻahu and Molokaʻi · 2–19 Nov 1999

Ralph C. DeFelice in Oʻahu and Molokaʻi, 2–19 November 1999

722 specimens · 5 stops · 18 days · 118 km

Charles N. Forbes

5 islands of the United States · Jun – Sep 1910

Charles N. Forbes across 5 islands of the United States, June – September 1910

246 specimens · 9 stops · 65 days · 763 km

Donald Anderson

Molokaʻi and Oʻahu · 8–27 Aug 1933

Donald Anderson in Molokaʻi and Oʻahu, 8–27 August 1933

377 specimens · 4 stops · 20 days · 170 km

Joseph F. Rock

3 islands of the United States · Apr – Jun 1918

Joseph F. Rock in Molokaʻi, Oʻahu and Maui, April – June 1918

200 specimens · 14 stops · 62 days · 167 km

H.A. Miller

4 islands of the United States · May – Jun 1953

H.A. Miller across 4 islands of the United States, May – June 1953

191 specimens · 24 stops · 33 days · 441 km

Steven Perlman

7 islands · Jan – Apr 2009

Steven Perlman across 7 islands, January – April 2009

157 specimens · 25 stops · 94 days · 15,389 km

H.A. Pilsbry

4 islands of the United States · Jan – Mar 1913

H.A. Pilsbry across 4 islands of the United States, January – March 1913

189 specimens · 13 stops · 56 days · 1,191 km

Otto Degener

4 islands of the United States · Jun – Jul 1961

Otto Degener across 4 islands of the United States, June – July 1961

153 specimens · 22 stops · 54 days · 560 km

S.J. Anderson

Molokaʻi and Hawaiʻi Island · Jan – May 1982

S.J. Anderson in Molokaʻi and Hawaiʻi Island, January – May 1982

153 specimens · 18 stops · 132 days · 578 km

Derral R. Herbst

4 islands of the United States · Jun – Aug 1970

Derral R. Herbst across 4 islands of the United States, June – August 1970

140 specimens · 25 stops · 72 days · 674 km

Isa Degener

4 islands of the United States · Jun – Jul 1961

Isa Degener across 4 islands of the United States, June – July 1961

147 specimens · 22 stops · 54 days · 560 km

W.J. Gilbert

5 islands of the United States · Feb – Jun 1959

W.J. Gilbert across 5 islands of the United States, February – June 1959

116 specimens · 37 stops · 105 days · 3,345 km

Clarence H. Cooke Jr.

Molokaʻi · 8–13 Mar 1916

Clarence H. Cooke Jr. in Molokaʻi, 8–13 March 1916

433 specimens · 3 stops · 6 days · 8 km

T. Matsui

5 islands of the United States · Feb – Sep 1959

T. Matsui across 5 islands of the United States, February – September 1959

149 specimens · 23 stops · 206 days · 3,203 km

C. Squair

Molokaʻi and Hawaiʻi Island · Jul – Aug 2005

C. Squair in Molokaʻi and Hawaiʻi Island, July – August 2005

350 specimens · 3 stops · 26 days · 451 km

Clarence H. Cooke Jr.

Molokaʻi · Feb – Mar 1915

Clarence H. Cooke Jr. in Molokaʻi, February – March 1915

275 specimens · 4 stops · 42 days · 51 km

station

4 islands of the United States · Mar – May 1968

station, March – May 1968

346 specimens · 11 stops · 41 days · 932 km

Harold St.John

3 islands of the United States · Dec 1948 – Jan 1949

Harold St.John in Molokaʻi, Niʻihau and Oʻahu, December 1948 – January 1949

219 specimens · 8 stops · 25 days · 490 km

Paul K. Higashino

Molokaʻi and Hawaiʻi Island · May – Aug 1979

Paul K. Higashino in Molokaʻi and Hawaiʻi Island, May – August 1979

138 specimens · 22 stops · 72 days · 976 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

F. Raymond Fosberg

Oʻahu and Molokaʻi · Feb – Apr 1948

F. Raymond Fosberg in Oʻahu and Molokaʻi, February – April 1948

132 specimens · 15 stops · 71 days · 524 km

J.W. Coulter

3 islands of the United States · 1–29 Dec 1932

J.W. Coulter in Molokaʻi, Kauaʻi and Oʻahu, 1–29 December 1932

180 specimens · 7 stops · 29 days · 28 km

Paul K. Higashino

4 islands of the United States · Jan – May 1977

Paul K. Higashino across 4 islands of the United States, January – May 1977

104 specimens · 19 stops · 118 days · 802 km

Donald Anderson

Oʻahu and Molokaʻi · May – Jul 1933

Donald Anderson in Oʻahu and Molokaʻi, May – July 1933

238 specimens · 3 stops · 54 days · 137 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.