Fitzmaurice River
Encyclopedia
The Fitzmaurice River is a river in Australia
's Northern Territory
. It was first charted in 1839 by European explorers aboard the HMS Beagle
under the command of John Lort Stokes. It was named for Lewis Roper Fitzmaurice, a mate and assistant surveyor on the Beagle.
The river drains into the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf
in the Timor Sea
from a source perhaps 500 kilometers inland. The area is quite remote and largely unsettled, and the river itself forms the southern boundary of the Daly River Port Keats Aboriginal Reserve.
A large number of crocodiles — both saltwater and fresh — inhabit the river. Wild cattle and bush pigs can be found in the surrounding countryside.
In 1977 Australian bushman Rod Ansell
was stuck for months on the river after his boat capsised in the estuary and he ventured upstream for a source of fresh water.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
's Northern Territory
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
. It was first charted in 1839 by European explorers aboard the HMS Beagle
HMS Beagle
HMS Beagle was a Cherokee-class 10-gun brig-sloop of the Royal Navy. She was launched on 11 May 1820 from the Woolwich Dockyard on the River Thames, at a cost of £7,803. In July of that year she took part in a fleet review celebrating the coronation of King George IV of the United Kingdom in which...
under the command of John Lort Stokes. It was named for Lewis Roper Fitzmaurice, a mate and assistant surveyor on the Beagle.
The river drains into the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf
Joseph Bonaparte Gulf
Joseph Bonaparte Gulf is a large body of water off the coast of the Northern Territory, Australia and Western Australia. It was named after Joseph Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon and King of Naples and then Spain by French explorer and naturalist Nicholas Baudin in 1803...
in the Timor Sea
Timor Sea
The Timor Sea is a relatively shallow sea bounded to the north by the island of Timor, to the east by the Arafura Sea, to the south by Australia and to the west by the Indian Ocean....
from a source perhaps 500 kilometers inland. The area is quite remote and largely unsettled, and the river itself forms the southern boundary of the Daly River Port Keats Aboriginal Reserve.
A large number of crocodiles — both saltwater and fresh — inhabit the river. Wild cattle and bush pigs can be found in the surrounding countryside.
In 1977 Australian bushman Rod Ansell
Rodney Ansell
Rodney William Ansell was an Australian from "the bush" who became the inspiration for Paul Hogan's character in the 1986 movie Crocodile Dundee...
was stuck for months on the river after his boat capsised in the estuary and he ventured upstream for a source of fresh water.
External links
- http://www.fitzmaurice.info/LRF.html
- http://epress.anu.edu.au/dtf/mobile_devices/ch11.html#d0e7214
- http://www.kempen.id.au/index.php?id_pag=65