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. 2,592 journeys so far, 1874 to 2026, 493,508 specimens between them.
1,114 collectors and expeditions42,779 days in the field8,765,933 km between stops330,332 photographed specimens
2,592 journeys
Derral R. Herbst
6 islands of Palau · 16–29 Jul 1991
Derral R. Herbst across 6 islands of Palau, 16–29 July 1991232 specimens · 14 stops · 14 days · 414 km
Johnson Randall
3 islands of the United States · Oct – Dec 1967
Johnson Randall in Enewetak Atoll, Oʻahu and Tahiti, October – December 1967238 specimens · 14 stops · 40 days · 20,674 km
H.B.S. Womersley
5 islands of the Solomon Islands · Aug – Sep 1965
H.B.S. Womersley across 5 islands of the Solomon Islands, August – September 1965129 specimens · 16 stops · 36 days · 277 km
R.L. Stemmermann
5 islands of Palau · 16–29 Jul 1991
R.L. Stemmermann across 5 islands of Palau, 16–29 July 1991231 specimens · 14 stops · 14 days · 414 km
Johnson Randall
8 islands · Jun – Sep 1986
Johnson Randall across 8 islands, June – September 1986167 specimens · 23 stops · 68 days · 75,616 km
Adolph D.E. Elmer
6 islands of the Philippines · Oct – Nov 1912
Adolph D.E. Elmer across 6 islands of the Philippines, October – November 1912243 specimens · 3 stops · 32 days
Otto Degener
Oʻahu and Maui · Jan – Jun 1937
Otto Degener in Oʻahu and Maui, January – June 193792 specimens · 21 stops · 132 days · 335 km
E.Y. Dawson
8 islands · May – Jun 1949
E.Y. Dawson across 8 islands, May – June 1949127 specimens · 14 stops · 29 days
Keith D.P. Wilson
Maui and Oʻahu · Oct 1951 – Jan 1952
Keith D.P. Wilson in Maui and Oʻahu, October 1951 – January 1952111 specimens · 14 stops · 97 days · 495 km
Kohndo Gessler
4 islands · Sep – Oct 1934
Kohndo Gessler across 4 islands, September – October 1934181 specimens · 5 stops · 34 days · 240 km
F. Raymond Fosberg
3 islands of French Polynesia · Aug – Sep 1985
F. Raymond Fosberg in Maupiti Island, Tahiti and Maupiti, August – September 1985158 specimens · 22 stops · 27 days
H. G
Nov 1916 – Feb 1917
H. G, November 1916 – February 1917317 specimens · 5 stops · 89 days
Isabelle Abbott
St. Croix · Dec 1972 – Jan 1973
Isabelle Abbott in St. Croix, December 1972 – January 1973130 specimens · 12 stops · 28 days
Pratita Puradyatmika
New Guinea · Jan – Mar 1998
Pratita Puradyatmika in New Guinea, January – March 1998114 specimens · 17 stops · 78 days · 3,724 km
Clarence H. Cooke Jr.
Molokaʻi and Kiritimati · Jul – Aug 1924
Clarence H. Cooke Jr. in Molokaʻi and Kiritimati, July – August 1924164 specimens · 6 stops · 35 days · 4,362 km
M.L. Lohman
Kauaʻi and Oʻahu · Oct 1947 – Jan 1948
M.L. Lohman in Kauaʻi and Oʻahu, October 1947 – January 1948173 specimens · 19 stops · 67 days · 763 km
P.S. Vroom
7 islands of the U.S. Outlying Islands · 18–31 Jan 2006
P.S. Vroom across 7 islands of the U.S. Outlying Islands, 18–31 January 2006289 specimens · 5 stops · 14 days · 2,146 km
Derral R. Herbst
3 islands of the United States · Jul – Aug 1973
Derral R. Herbst in Maui, Oʻahu and Kauaʻi, July – August 1973122 specimens · 12 stops · 44 days · 1,166 km
J.R. Croft
3 islands of Papua New Guinea · Nov – Dec 1976
J.R. Croft in Fergusson Island, Normanby Island and Fergusson Island., November – December 1976149 specimens · 8 stops · 39 days · 605 km
Edwin Horace Bryan Jr.
7 islands · Mar – Apr 1935
Edwin Horace Bryan Jr. across 7 islands, March – April 1935175 specimens · 12 stops · 27 days · 12,205 km
Isa Degener
4 islands · Nov – Dec 1960
Isa Degener across 4 islands, November – December 1960102 specimens · 20 stops · 40 days · 12,274 km
Edwin G. Burrows
4 islands · Apr – Jun 1932
Edwin G. Burrows across 4 islands, April – June 1932190 specimens · 4 stops · 44 days · 4,532 km
F.G. Wörner
Indonesia and Lombok · Jan – Feb 1984
F.G. Wörner in Indonesia and Lombok, January – February 1984268 specimens · 10 stops · 28 days
Donald Anderson
Oʻahu · 1–15 Apr 1938
Donald Anderson in Oʻahu, 1–15 April 1938318 specimens · 2 stops · 15 days · 153 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.