Narrative of the Voyage of H.M.S. Rattlesnake, Commanded By the Late Captain Owen Stanley, R.N., F.R.S. Etc. During the Years 1846-1850. — Volume 2 Including Discoveries and Surveys in New Guinea, the Louisiade Archipelago, Etc. to Which Is Added the Account of Mr. E.B. Kennedy's Expedition for the Exploration of the Cape York Peninsula. By John Macgillivray, F.R.G.S. Naturalist to the Expedition.

"Narrative of the Voyage of H.M.S. Rattlesnake, Commanded By the Late Captain Owen Stanley" by John Macgillivray is a mid-19th century account of a scientific voyage that presents a window into a pivotal expedition. The tale recounts the journey of the H.M.S. Rattlesnake between 1846 and 1850, charting both the geographical terrains of New Guinea, the Louisiade Archipelago, and the Cape York Peninsula, and the social terrains of the people who inhabit these faraway spaces. Serving as the expedition's naturalist, Macgillivray takes the reader on a journey through encounters with aboriginal Australian tribes, their traditions, social systems, and warfare methods, revealing not only the details of cultural interactions but also the natural wonders discovered along the way through the eyes of a scientist.