Dr George Alexander Turner (son of the Rev. Dr George Turner, author of 'Samoa A Hundred Years Ago and Long Before', London, 1884) was a medical missionary in Samoa from 1868 to 1879.

The journal describes two voyages through the Tokelau, Ellice and Gilbert Groups (Tuvalu and Kiribati) in the mission ship John Williams. The first voyage was from 26 May to 2 August 1874; and the second from 11 May to 21 July 1878. Much of the material is on mission matters, with occasional reference to matters of more general interest. See also the Bureau's newsletter Pambu January-March 1971:22, pp.1-6.

Townsend and Moore were members of the US Fisheries Commission aboard the U.S. Fisheries Commission Steamer Albatross which made a cruise to the South Pacific in 1899 - 1900 under Commander Jefferson F. Moser, USN.

Ethnographic notes on the Marquesas Islands, Tuamotu Islands, Society Islands (French Polynesia), Cook Islands, Niue, Tonga, Fiji, Ellice Islands and Gilbert Islands (Tuvalu and Kiribati), Marshall Islands, and Caroline Islands.