Murray River

Murray River, The, the largest of Australian rivers, is formed by the confluence of many streams in the Muniong Range of the Australian Alps. For some distance it flows W. to E., serving as the boundary between New South Wales and Victoria, then passes into South Australia, and, taking a sharp bend to S., traverses Lake Alexandrina and discharges its waters into the ocean at Encounter Bay. During its course of 1,120 miles to the point where it debouches into the lake, it receives the Murrumbidgee, Darling, Goulburn, Lachlan, Compospe, and other tributaries, draining an area of 270,000 square miles. The upper portion is broken, uneven, and liable to semi-obliteration in dry seasons, but the lower reaches possess considerable breadth and depth, and are navigable from the lake to Albury, though, owing to the narrow and dangerous mouth, communication with the sea is hardly yet practicable.