Such a watercourse could hardly be called a river, since it only flows during heavy rains, after which it entirely depends on the character of the soil, through which it runs, whether any water remains in it or not.] A lagoon is a shallow lake, it generally constitutes the back water of some river, and is speedily dried up.

In Australia, there is no surface water, properly so called, of a permanent description.] But, although I am making these general observations on the rivers, and to a certain extent of climate of Australia, I would not be understood to mean more than that its seasons are uncertain, and that its summers are of comparatively long duration.
In reference to its rivers also, the Murray is an exception to the other known rivers of this extensive continent.

The basins of that fine stream are in the deepest recesses of the Australian Alps--which rise to an elevation of 7000 feet above the sea.

The heads of its immediate tributaries, extend from the 36th to the 32nd parallel of latitude, and over two degrees of longitude, that is to say, from the 146 degrees to the 148 degrees meridian, but, independently of these, it receives the whole westerly drainage of the interior, from the Darling downwards.
Supplied by the melting snows from the remote and cloud-capped chain in which its tributaries rise, the Murray supports a rapid current to the sea.

Taking its windings into account, its length cannot be less than from 1300 to 1500 miles.