NOTES ON THE RIVER FITZROY, CENTRAL QUEENSLAND. 761 
rate of two miles per hour; then about 40 chains of slack water; 
then about 80 chains measured on the line of cross-section, a 
stream running at au average velocity of about three miles per hour. 
The average depth over the whole was about 5 feet. The water 
discharged during the time the river overflowed its banks into this 
by- wash I estimated to be about 365,000,000,000 cubic feet. This, 
together with the quantity discharged in the ordinary channel, makes 
the total quantity ot 1,177,000,000,000 cubic feet during the high 
flood of 1890. 
Whilst the river was in high flood and overflowing its channel, I 
find the quantity of water flowing in a given time in the by-wash 
behind the city was greater than that in the ordinary channel. The 
figures are approximately as follow : — 
Cubic Feet per 
second. 
Discharge in river channel at Rockhampton ... 260,000 
„ by- wash behind the city ... 272,000 
Rate of total discharge during the 1890 flood ... 532,000 
COMPARISON WITH THE RIVER MURRAY. 
As numerous gaugings of the flow of water in the river Murray 
have been taken in the various colonies through which it pusses, it 
may be taken as a kind of measure for comparative estimates of river 
flow in Australia. 
The discharge of water in the two rivers is approximately as 
follows : — 
River Murray. 
From gaugings at Morgan, South Australia. 
Discharge. 
Low summer level (May, 1884), 2,071 cubic feet per second. 
High flood level (Deer., 1886), 32,000 do. 
River Fitzroy. 
Discharge. 
Low summer level (March, 1892), 800 cubic feet per second. 
High flood level (1890), 532,000 do. 
It will be seen from these figures that when the river Fitzroy is at 
its highest flood level it is discharging many times the quantity of the 
river Murray flood waters. On the other hand, it is to be noted that 
the discharge in the river Fitzroy at low summer level touches a lower 
point than that of the river Murray. 
QUALITY OF THE WATER. 
In order to test the quality of the water in view of the possibility 
of using it as a source of supply for the city of Rockhampton, I have 
taken observations and had analyses made of the water within the 
