George French Angas (1822–86) gave up a career in business to become an artist, and his interest in natural history and ethnology is apparent throughout his work. In the early 1840s he travelled to Australia and New Zealand, where he took part in two expeditions in South Australia and later walked nearly 800 miles through the volcanic interior of North Island with Maori guides, sketching at every opportunity. His paintings from this period were later exhibited and formed the basis of two important large-format books of lithographs that appeared in 1849, having been announced in this two-volume 1847 account of his travels. The book contains vivid descriptions of his experience, and focuses especially on the way of life of the indigenous peoples of South Australia, New South Wales and New Zealand. It also describes the spectacular landscapes and exotic flora and fauna he observed throughout the trip.