28 



portance of wHcli has been either overlooked or ignored. If 

 the river were an equally discharging one, some earnest con- 

 sideration might be given to the suggestions made by Mr. Pol- 

 litzer and in part entertained by the Grovernment, viz., that of 

 shortening the river- way by canals and by narrowing the width 

 of the old river-bed. Of course an actual obstruction to navi- 

 gation is presented by snags and a few rocky bars, which 

 should be removed. But considering the very intermittent 

 flow, our object should be rather to impound the waters than 

 to seek by reduction of length of waterway to run them off at 

 three, four, or more times their present velocity. Another 

 question involved, and one which touches vested interests, is 

 what effect would the proposed scheme have upon the periodic 

 flooding of the alluvial flats. The effect would simply be to 

 render unavailable for summer pasturage a vast extent of 

 country, which now by natural irrigation secures to the grazier 

 feed at a time when the upland country is totally unable to 

 support his stock. 



Mr. Pollitzer has pointed out among other defects of the 

 river "the feeding of dead branches. Happily they are scarce 

 on the Murray. There are innumerable creeks fed by the 

 Murray, but only by its high water ; at low almost all of them 

 are dry." No doubt the vast reticulation of creeks and lagoons 

 of the upper section of the river, filled when the river is in 

 flood, is actually a reservoir which by discharging into the 

 river as the water falls, helps to maintain a larger volume of 

 flow than would be otherwise possible. But with respect to 

 the bifurcation of the river by islands the case is different, as 

 thereby the area is increased at the expense of depth of water. 

 In the case of Craigie's Creek, which is the most prominent 

 among the by-channels of the Murray, the defect may be over- 

 come at comparatively trifling cost by simply damming it at the 

 incurrent end, which interrupts a nearly straight line of river 

 bank, and is, moreover, only a few yards across. 



The water of the Murray is always thick with suspended 

 matter, its white opacity increasing with the rise of the river. 

 After flood the water of the lagoons . and creeks has become 

 clear, and its discharge into the river when falling materially 

 helps to diminish its muddiness. This discharge, taking place 

 during the summer months, is doubtless the chief source of the 

 large quantity of organic matter dissolved in the water. A jar 

 of muddy water taken at this time will, if freely exposed, be- 

 come offensive before it has become clear. The lagoons and 

 creeks are teeming with animal and vegetable life. The falling 

 water is marked by the putrescent remains of animals and 

 bleached masses of vegetable matter. Dying and dead snails 

 of species of Lymncea and Bulinus crowd in myriads the de- 



