King Sound
Encyclopedia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
. It expands from the mouth of the Fitzroy River
Fitzroy River (Western Australia)
The Fitzroy River is located in the West Kimberley region of Western Australia.-Discovery:The Fitzroy River was discovered by the West in 1837 by George Grey in the H.M.S. Beagle. The river was subsequently named by Lt J L Stokes on 26/2/1838 after Captain Robert FitzRoy R.N...
, one of Australia's
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...
largest watercourses, and opens to the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
. It is about 120 km long, and averages about 50 km in width. The port town of Derby
Derby, Western Australia
Derby is a town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. At the 2006 census, Derby had a population of 3,093. Along with Broome and Kununurra, it is one of only three towns in the Kimberley to have a population over 2,000...
lies near the mouth of the Fitzroy River on the eastern shore of King Sound. King Sound has the highest tides in Australia, and amongst the highest in the world, reaching a maximum tidal range of 11.8 metres at Derby.
Other rivers that discharge into the sound include the Lennard River
Lennard River
Lennard River is a river in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.The river rises below the King Leopold Ranges and flows in a westerly direction through the Lennard River Gorge and the Windjana Gorge before merging with the Meda River....
, Meda River
Meda River
The Meda River is a river in the Kimberley of Western Australia.The river is formed when the Lennard River splits into two channels just North of Mount Marmion, the other channel being the May River...
, Robinson River
Robinson River
The Robinson River is a tributary of the Rapidan River in Madison County, Virginia, in the United States. It flows southeast through White Oak Canyon and Berry Hollow, under Routes 231, 29 and 15...
and May River
May River
The May River is a river in the Kimberley of Western Australia.The river is formed when the Lennard River splits into two channels just North of Mount Marmion and near the Kimberley Downs Station homestead, the other channel being the Meda River...
.
King Sound is bordered by the island clusters of the Buccaneer Archipelago
Buccaneer Archipelago
The Buccaneer Archipelago is a group of islands off the coast of Western Australia near the town of Derby in the Kimberley region. The closest inhabited place is Bardi located about from the western end of the island group....
to the East and Cape Leveque
Cape Leveque
Cape Leveque is the northernmost tip of the Dampier Peninsula in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Cape Leveque is 240 km north of Broome, and is remote with few facilities. Nevertheless, the Cape's sandy beaches are attracting an increasing number of visitors.A 13-metre-tall...
to the West.
The traditional owners and original inhabitants of the area are the Indigenous Australians the Nimanburu, Njulnjul, Warwa peoples.
The first Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an to explore the Sound was William Dampier
William Dampier
William Dampier was an English buccaneer, sea captain, author and scientific observer...
who visited the region aboard the Cygnet
Cygnet (ship)
Cygnet may refer to several ships :* a ship with which George Strickland Kingston arrived in South Australia in 1836* a privateer ship captained by Charles Swan and with which William Dampier explored the coastline of Western Australia in 1688 and 1699* Cygnet 44, a yacht model by Caribbean...
in 1688.
Philip Parker King
Philip Parker King
Admiral Phillip Parker King, FRS, RN was an early explorer of the Australian coast.-Early life and education:...
surveyed the coastline in 1818 and named the area Cygnet Bay.
The area was later visited by John Stokes
John Lort Stokes
Admiral John Lort Stokes, RN was an officer in the Royal Navy who travelled on HMS Beagle for close to eighteen years.Stokes grew up in Scotchwell near Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire. He joined the Navy on 20 September 1824...
and John Wickham
John Clements Wickham
John Clements Wickham was a naval officer, magistrate and administrator. He was a Lieutenant on HMS Beagle during her second survey mission from 1831 to 1836, which took the young naturalist Charles Darwin on what became the subject of his book, The Voyage of the Beagle...
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...
in 1838. The Sound is named after the noted surveyor
Surveying
See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...
, Philip Parker King
Philip Parker King
Admiral Phillip Parker King, FRS, RN was an early explorer of the Australian coast.-Early life and education:...
.
External links
16°50′S 123°25′E