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. 12 journeys so far, 1921 to 2006, 3,630 specimens between them.

8 collectors and expeditions242 days in the field23,651 km between stops1,392 photographed specimens

W.A. Whistler

7 islands · May – Aug 1975

W.A. Whistler across 7 islands, May – August 1975

447 specimens · 44 stops · 90 days · 980 km

M.L. Dailer

9 islands · Jan – Mar 2006

M.L. Dailer across 9 islands, January – March 2006

800 specimens · 8 stops · 46 days · 3,681 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

David Timmins Fullaway

4 islands of the United States · Feb – Mar 1930

David Timmins Fullaway across 4 islands of the United States, February – March 1930

477 specimens · 5 stops · 42 days · 259 km

P.S. Vroom

7 islands · Jan – Mar 2002

P.S. Vroom across 7 islands, January – March 2002

348 specimens · 9 stops · 50 days · 6,339 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

Wray Harris

3 islands of Samoa · Jul – Aug 1937

Wray Harris in Upolu, Tutuila and Olosega, July – August 1937

284 specimens · 3 stops · 32 days · 258 km

D. Wesley Garber

3 islands of American Samoa · May – Jul 1925

D. Wesley Garber in Ofu, Olosega and Tutuila, May – July 1925

143 specimens · 16 stops · 42 days · 209 km

D. Wesley Garber

Tau and Olosega · Dec 1921 – Jan 1922

D. Wesley Garber in Tau and Olosega, December 1921 – January 1922

133 specimens · 10 stops · 45 days

Robert H. Cowie

5 islands · Oct – Nov 1992

Robert H. Cowie across 5 islands, October – November 1992

131 specimens · 14 stops · 35 days · 503 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.