THE PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF AUSTRALIA. 261 



drains an exceedingly fertile basin of 7,900 square miles of the finest 

 pastoral and agricultural laud in the whole colony, and large steamers 

 and other vessels uavigate its waters for a distance of some 35 miles, 

 besides one or two of its tributaries, which are also navigable. The 

 Clarence is certainly one of the finest streams of eastern Australia, 

 although the entrance is obstructed by a bar. From its source in the 

 Obelisk Mountains to the sea in Shoal Bay it flows through a channel 

 of 240 miles in length, draining a fertile valley of 8,000 square miles. 

 It is navigable frOin the sea up to Copmanhurst for G7 miles. The dis- 

 trict is famous for its mineral areas and for its rich agricultural and 

 pastoral lands. The Brisbane, Fitzroy, and Burdekin rivers are such 

 as to merit something more than mere passing notice. From a com- 

 mercial standpoint the first, taken in order of position, is undoubtedly 

 the most important stream with which we have to deal on the eastern 

 coast of the continent. It rises in the most northerly extension of 

 Cooyar Bange, north of Mount Stanley, and flows in a general south- 

 erly and easterly direction through a very crooked channel for 210 

 miles to Moreton Bay. It combines with its own the united waters of 

 the Stanley, Bremer, Cooyar, and other tributary streams, by which it 

 is so greatly augmented during periods of heavy rain that many of the 

 low-lying areas within its basin are seriously flooded. It drains an 

 area of 5,300 square miles, including that part of the East Moreton dis- 

 trict bounded on the northwest by the Main and Cooyar ranges; on the 

 southeast by the watershed of the Logan Biver; and on the northeast 

 by the D'Aguilar Bange. The flourishing and rapidly rising capital of 

 the great northern colony of Queensland is situated on the banks of 

 this river, about 15 miles from its mouth. It is navigable to Brisbane 

 for the largest steamers, and for small vessels as far up as Ipswich. 

 The Fitzroy is a large and important stream 180 miles long, with about 

 twelve tributaries. It is navigable for large vessels for 40 miles, to the 

 town of Bockhampton, and drains an area of some 55,600 square miles 

 of country. The Burdekin Biver is a large stream of 425 miles in 

 length, draining an area of 55,529 square miles, whose tropical waters 

 are discharged in the Pacific Ocean at Upstart Bay. It is not, how- 

 ever, navigable, except for small vessels, a few miles only, and during 

 heavy floods the channel is liable to undergo much alteration. The 

 delta lands are exceedingly fertile, but the river itself is of little value 

 for commercial purposes. The subsoil is porous and the surface soil 

 very rich. The whole of the lower basin is eminently adapted for 

 tropical agriculture, and the areas of the delta are highly productive 

 sugar lands, most of which are under cultivation and yielding remark- 

 ably heavy crops of cane of a high density. In times of heavy floods 

 the low-lying lands are inundated by the overflow of the river waters, 

 but the deposit of sediment left on the surface considerably increases 

 the fertility of the soil. In the northern part of the continent there 

 are several remarkably fine rivers, some of which are of considerable 



