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The Murray River is a river in the southwest of Western Australia. It played a significant part in the expansion of Aboriginal settlement in the area south of Perth after the arrival of British settlers at the Swan River Colony in 1829. The river is one of the few major rivers close to Perth which is devoid of dams for public water supply. It includes a catchment area including a large part of the wheatbelt and south-west of the state, draining from 450 mm/year average rainfall country in the east near Pingelly, westward through the high rainfall parts of the Darling Range around Dwellingup with an average rainfall of 1,300 mm/year. The first of the two major tributaries, the Hotham River, starts its journey near Narrogin. The other major tributary is the Williams River, which starts between Williams and Narrogin. These two tributaries are the main rivers which drain the eastern wheat-belt. The Murray River then flows through forested high-rainfall parts of the Darling Range to emerge near Pinjarra. Another tributary, the Dandalup River, joins the Murray a short distance downstream of Pinjarra. This section is known as the lower Murray and is navigable in small boats. The river then flows across the sand plain between the Darling Scarp and the coast to empty into the Peel Estuary near Mandurah. The canal development of North and South Yunderup is situated several kilometres upstream from the estuary. ==History== The first European exploration of the area was in July 1829 when a group, led by Captain Currie of the ''HMS Challenger'' and accompanied by botanist James Drummond, marched a short distance inland from present day Rockingham and after climbing a small hill at what is now Baldivis, sighted a river in the distance. This was later named the Serpentine River, which is to the north of the Murray and for some time was confused with the Murray, which was not encountered until later that year. In November, Dr Alexander Collie and Lieutenant William Preston and crew from HMS ''Sulphur'' piloted two whaleboats out of Cockburn Sound and at midday on 17 November 1829 crossed the ocean bar at present day Mandurah. After camping overnight, they sailed south down the Peel-Harvey Estuary to the southern extreme near the delta of the Harvey River, where they had an amicable encounter with some local aborigines. Due to strong winds, they sailed north out of the estuary without exploring the Eastern shore where the Murray River enters the estuary. The group then exited through the ocean bar and sailed south along the coast as far as the Collie and Preston Rivers and the Leschenault Inlet before returning to the Peel-Harvey estuary on 28 November 1829. From there they explored the Murray River delta, which at the time included five entrances into the estuary. The boats managed to navigate about two miles (3 km) up the river before returning to Fremantle after the 12-day trip. This was the first actual encounter with the Murray River and was named by Governor James Stirling after the Secretary of State for the Colonial Office in London, Sir George Murray. Within a few months, settlers from the Swan River had started to explore the river and choose blocks along its banks. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Murray River (Western Australia)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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