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. 37 journeys so far, 1921 to 2004, 48,044 specimens between them.

28 collectors and expeditions1,162 days in the field163,305 km between stops45,451 photographed specimens

Mangarevan Expedition

29 islands · May – Nov 1934

Mangarevan Expedition, May – November 1934

15,215 specimens · 33 stops · 173 days · 12,849 km

Donald Anderson

34 islands · Apr – Oct 1934

Donald Anderson across 34 islands, April – October 1934

8,872 specimens · 35 stops · 202 days · 16,221 km

Yoshio Kondo

16 islands · May – Oct 1934

Yoshio Kondo across 16 islands, May – October 1934

4,915 specimens · 25 stops · 146 days · 6,036 km

Clarence H. Cooke Jr.

26 islands · Apr – Oct 1934

Clarence H. Cooke Jr. across 26 islands, April – October 1934

3,369 specimens · 39 stops · 184 days · 14,736 km

Charles Montague Cooke Jr. III

17 islands · May – Oct 1934

Charles Montague Cooke Jr. III across 17 islands, May – October 1934

3,597 specimens · 25 stops · 140 days · 5,629 km

Elwood Curtin Zimmerman

21 islands · Feb – Oct 1934

Elwood Curtin Zimmerman across 21 islands, February – October 1934

1,714 specimens · 56 stops · 248 days · 12,587 km

Harold St.John

7 islands · Sep 1932 – Jan 1933

Harold St.John across 7 islands, September 1932 – January 1933

929 specimens · 23 stops · 113 days · 8,847 km

Samuel Wight

16 islands of French Polynesia · May – Oct 1934

Samuel Wight across 16 islands of French Polynesia, May – October 1934

733 specimens · 24 stops · 156 days · 7,021 km

Harold St.John

5 islands · Sep 1930 – May 1931

Harold St.John across 5 islands, September 1930 – May 1931

545 specimens · 46 stops · 258 days · 10,194 km

Martin L. Grant

8 islands of French Polynesia · Nov 1930 – Feb 1931

Martin L. Grant across 8 islands of French Polynesia, November 1930 – February 1931

822 specimens · 31 stops · 90 days · 1,081 km

Mangarevan Expedition

9 islands · Jun – Oct 1934

Mangarevan Expedition, June – October 1934

813 specimens · 13 stops · 114 days · 3,809 km

Gessler

6 islands · Sep – Oct 1934

Gessler across 6 islands, September – October 1934

1,072 specimens · 6 stops · 30 days · 2,403 km

St. John Harold

12 islands · May – Oct 1934

St. John Harold across 12 islands, May – October 1934

636 specimens · 13 stops · 142 days · 4,628 km

F. Raymond Fosberg

6 islands · May – Jul 1982

F. Raymond Fosberg across 6 islands, May – July 1982

691 specimens · 46 stops · 88 days · 10,015 km

Anderson

9 islands of French Polynesia · Jul – Oct 1934

Anderson across 9 islands of French Polynesia, July – October 1934

419 specimens · 12 stops · 91 days · 2,313 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

Kondo

4 islands · Sep – Oct 1934

Kondo across 4 islands, September – October 1934

488 specimens · 5 stops · 18 days · 221 km

Jacques Florence

5 islands of French Polynesia · May – Jul 1990

Jacques Florence across 5 islands of French Polynesia, May – July 1990

302 specimens · 8 stops · 60 days · 929 km

Jan Newhouse

6 islands · Dec 1968 – Feb 1969

Jan Newhouse across 6 islands, December 1968 – February 1969

162 specimens · 13 stops · 62 days · 4,798 km

Jacques Florence

4 islands · Apr – Jul 1991

Jacques Florence across 4 islands, April – July 1991

294 specimens · 7 stops · 85 days · 5,985 km

Charles Montague Cooke Jr. 7 Others

3 islands · Sep – Oct 1934

Charles Montague Cooke Jr. 7 Others in Raiatea, Moorea and Tahiti, September – October 1934

311 specimens · 3 stops · 18 days · 225 km

Kohndo Gessler

4 islands · Sep – Oct 1934

Kohndo Gessler across 4 islands, September – October 1934

181 specimens · 5 stops · 34 days · 240 km

Stokes

4 islands · Jan – Mar 1921

Stokes across 4 islands, January – March 1921

105 specimens · 11 stops · 81 days · 1,733 km

Mrs. J.F.G. Stokes

4 islands · Jan – Mar 1921

Mrs. J.F.G. Stokes across 4 islands, January – March 1921

105 specimens · 11 stops · 81 days · 1,733 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.