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. 56 journeys so far, 1903 to 2016, 14,441 specimens between them.
37 collectors and expeditions1,419 days in the field284,341 km between stops9,438 photographed specimens
56 journeys match
M. Uili
Upolu and Savaii · 2–28 Jun 2016
M. Uili in Upolu and Savaii, 2–28 June 201644 specimens · 6 stops · 27 days · 80 km
M.-H Sachet
4 islands · Jun – Jul 1976
M.-H Sachet across 4 islands, June – July 197646 specimens · 8 stops · 28 days · 2,621 km
Anthony C. Robinson
Savaii and Upolu · Feb – Mar 1994
Anthony C. Robinson in Savaii and Upolu, February – March 199459 specimens · 5 stops · 19 days · 322 km
W.A. Whistler
6 islands · Apr – May 1979
W.A. Whistler across 6 islands, April – May 197941 specimens · 8 stops · 11 days · 80 km
Timothy Flynn
3 islands · Oct – Nov 1989
Timothy Flynn in Upolu, Savaii and Maui, October – November 198943 specimens · 7 stops · 13 days · 4,300 km


Erling Christophersen
Tutuila and Upolu · 24–29 Jun 1931
Erling Christophersen in Tutuila and Upolu, 24–29 June 193153 specimens · 3 stops · 6 days · 145 km
T. Foliga
Upolu and Savaii · 2–15 Jun 2016
T. Foliga in Upolu and Savaii, 2–15 June 201641 specimens · 5 stops · 14 days · 80 km
Anthony C. Robinson
Upolu and Savaii · 20–24 Jun 1994
Anthony C. Robinson in Upolu and Savaii, 20–24 June 199459 specimens · 3 stops · 5 days · 92 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.
