MURRAY, the principal known river of Australia, rises in the Australian Alps, or Warragong Mountains, in S. Lat. 36. 20., E. Long. 148. 15. It flows in a very irregular course towards the N.W., forming the greater part of the boundary between New South Wales and Victoria. In E. Long. 142. it takes a general direction towards the W., in 140. it turns S.S.W., and finally falls into Lake Victoria, and through it into the ocean, in S. Lat. 36. 30., and E. Long. 139. This river and its tributaries water a most extensive tract of country, comprising the whole of Victoria and New South Wales, with the exception of a narrow strip that extends along the coast. The length of the main river is not more than 700 miles; and though several of its affluents much exceed it in the length of their course, yet they are all inferior to it in the volume and rapidity of their water. Not far from its source it has a breadth of 100 yards; and in 143. E. Long., where it receives the Murrumbidgee, it is three or four times as broad. From its junction with the Darling, in E. Long. 142., to its mouth, the breadth of the river is on an average from 100
Murray, to 150 yards; and where it enters Lake Victoria it is about 200 yards wide, and often as deep as 10 fathoms. Thus, like most of the rivers of Australia, the Murray, while broad, full, and rapid in the higher parts of its course, becomes gradually less as it approaches the sea, receiving no tributaries for a considerable distance above its mouth, and flowing through a marshy and alluvial soil. The plain through which the Murray flows is in general low and flat, slightly sloping towards the sea, and in about 144. E. Long. the course of the river winds through extensive tracts of reeds. Further down, the banks are lined for a very long distance with trees, which give to the river the appearance of an avenue; and it is remarkable that the same kind of wood is never found on opposite sides. Below its junction with the Darling, the Murray forces its way between precipitous cliffs of limestone rock, which rise in some places to the height of 200 feet; but these, as the river approaches the coast, give place to lower undulating hills inclosing between them large tracts of marshy land overgrown with reeds. The river is very much subject to floods. Its annual rise is about 16 or 20 feet; but the waters of the Murrumbidgee frequently cause it to rise 30 or 40 feet above its usual level. When the river is in flood, it is navigable as far up as Albury, about 90 miles from its source; and steamers and barges now ply regularly as far up as that place, when there is sufficient depth of water, which is about six months in the year. The entrance into Lake Victoria from the sea is difficult, if not dangerous, owing to the violent surf and to the constant changes in the position of the channel, which is also very shallow. In order to avoid the inconveniences of this navigation, a tramway has been constructed for a distance of 8 miles, between Goolwa, on the Murray, and Port Elliot, on the ocean. This is now working in connection with the river steamers.
The tributaries of the Murray form the greater part of the entire system of that river. The Murrumbidgee rises in the same mountains as the Murray, a short distance to the north of that river, and flows for the most part of its course in a direction nearly parallel. The country through which it flows resembles, in its low, flat character, that near the Murray; and it passes through many tracts of marshy and reedy ground in its course. As it proceeds westward it is gradually diminished in volume and rapidity, and finally discharges its waters into the Murray. The Lachlan River rises in the mountains to the west of Sydney, and flows first W. and then S.W., until it is lost in marshes which are drained by the Murrumbidgee. The Macquarie rises in the same chain of mountains farther to the N., and flows in a N.E. direction; but it soon becomes gradually less, till it is absorbed in an extensive morass. The longest of the affluents of the Murray is the Darling, a river which rises in the N.E. of New South Wales, and flows in an irregular course towards the S.W., till it falls into the Murray. In the upper part of its course it receives many tributaries, of which the principal are the Balonne, from the N., which falls into it by several branches, and the Macquarie from the S.E., through the marshes in which that river ends. It also receives the River Bogan, which runs parallel to the Macquarie; but in the lower part of its course it has no important tributaries. The water of the Darling is salt near its source, but below its junction with the Bogan it is fresh, and quite fit for drinking. The flats through which the Darling flows, near its union with the Murray, differ from those of the latter river in the beauty of their scenery, and in being covered, not with reeds, but with the most luxuriant vegetation. Its current here is generally sluggish, and its waters, which are muddy, do not in general contribute much to increase the volume of the Murray; but, like all the Australian rivers, it is subject to inundations, and is very variable in its condition, sometimes rising 4 or 5 feet in the course of twenty-four hours. Its banks,
like those of the Murray, are thickly covered with timber. The navigation of the Darling is very uncertain; but it has been ascended as far as 30 miles above its confluence with the Murray. The basin of the Murray is bounded on the S. and E. by mountains, which skirt the coast, and which are known by various names at different parts. On the W. it is bounded by a range running N. and S., near the boundary between New South Wales and South Australia; and on the N. there is believed to be another range extending E. and W., and forming the watershed of the rivers of Australia. The general character of the basin of the Murray is flat. It is in some parts dry and destitute of water, and in others alluvial and marshy. The best part of this region is that at the N.E. corner, called Darling Downs, an extensive region of rich pasture grounds. This country seems to be very thinly peopled, and in some places, as far as the eye can reach, there is no trace to be seen of human habitations. This is almost the only portion of the interior of Australia that has been explored, and this has only been done in comparatively recent times. No attempt was made before 1813 to cross the mountains which form the eastern boundary of the Murray River system, and it was not till 1829 that its mouth in Lake Victoria was reached. In that year Captain Sturt followed the course of the Murrumbidgee from its source to the Murray, and that river down to the sea. The Lachlan and the Macquarie had been explored by Oxley in 1817 and 1818; and part of the upper course of the Darling was discovered by Sturt in 1828, who also penetrated, in 1844, for some distance up the Darling, and thence into the centre of Australia.