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, 1934 to 1992, 18,252 specimens between them.

13 collectors and expeditions573 days in the field98,134 km between stops16,294 photographed specimens

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

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

F. Raymond Fosberg

32 islands · Apr – Oct 1934

F. Raymond Fosberg across 32 islands, April – October 1934

2,503 specimens · 85 stops · 201 days · 23,387 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

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

W.R. Sykes

5 islands · Apr – Jul 1992

W.R. Sykes across 5 islands, April – July 1992

414 specimens · 16 stops · 75 days · 4,191 km

Jacques Florence

5 islands of French Polynesia · Mar – May 1992

Jacques Florence across 5 islands of French Polynesia, March – May 1992

227 specimens · 6 stops · 49 days · 2,824 km

Noel Louis Hilmer Krauss

13 islands · Dec 1976 – Apr 1977

Noel Louis Hilmer Krauss across 13 islands, December 1976 – April 1977

88 specimens · 27 stops · 104 days · 15,072 km

Dennis M. Devaney

8 islands · Feb – Mar 1971

Dennis M. Devaney across 8 islands, February – March 1971

90 specimens · 13 stops · 41 days · 1,684 km

N. Hallé

3 islands of French Polynesia · May – Jun 1979

N. Hallé in Tubuai, Tahiti and Marotiri, May – June 1979

50 specimens · 16 stops · 41 days

Seymour H. Sohmer

Tubuai · Jun – Jul 1971

Seymour H. Sohmer in Tubuai, June – July 1971

69 specimens · 6 stops · 23 days

Walter Hambuechen

3 islands of French Polynesia · 1–5 Dec 1960

Walter Hambuechen in Rurutu, Tubuai and Raivavae, 1–5 December 1960

83 specimens · 3 stops · 5 days

Alex B. Anderson

3 islands of French Polynesia · 8–26 Aug 1934

Alex B. Anderson in Tubuai, Rurutu and Raivavae, 8–26 August 1934

40 specimens · 5 stops · 19 days · 411 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.