Darling

Darling, a name applied to a river, a mountain-range, and two districts in Australia, is derived from Lieutenant-general Sir Ralph Darling (1775-1859), who was governor of New South Wales (1825-31). (1) The river Darling, a tributary of the Murray River, is formed by the union of several head-streams, all of which rise in the great Dividing Range. The chief of these head-streams are the Barwon and Gwydir. Farther down, the Darling receives the Culgoa and the Warrego from the north, and the Bogan from the south. Its length, with affluents, is stated at 1160 miles, and it and its tributaries are estimated to drain an area of 198,000 sq. m. It joins the Murray at Wentworth, on the border between New South Wales and South Australia, having received no tributary in its lower course. Much of the district traversed by it is an arid plain, save near the river-bank; the river is subject to floods. (2) The Darling Range, in Western Australia, runs parallel to the west coast, at a distance of 10 to 25 miles inland, from the south-west corner of the colony to a point some 250 miles farther north. The range has a height of from 1500 to 2000 feet; and in Mount William attains an elevation of 3000 feet. (3) The Darling district at the south-western corner of New South Wales, scantily watered, has an area of 50,000 sq. m. (4) The Darling Downs form the richest pastoral district of Queensland, in the southern part of the colony. This is an upland district on and about the summit of the Dividing Range. It was discovered by Allan Cunningham, the botanist, in 1827, and has an area of 6080 sq. m. There is also much fine agricultural land in which the cereals, potatoes, and all kinds of vegetables grow well. The western railway traverses the north, and the southern line the extreme east of this district.