Chart of the Murray River, between Funnel Bend and Echuca [map]

The captains of the paddle steamers on the Murray-Darling river system used maps that were hand drawn and reflected the ever changing nature of the rivers with their sandbanks, snags and billabongs.

This particular hand-drawn chart shows 168 miles (270 kilometers) of river, detailing the bends, reefs and snags as well as landing places, stations and towns. Lacking published charts showing navigational conditions of the Murray-Darling River system, paddle steamer captains created their own. Scrolled out as the boat proceeded along the river, each captain could annotate the chart as needed.

In 1858 the upper reaches of the river system were partly surveyed and a map produced at the scale of four inches to the mile, but in the main, the captains preferred to use their own. The South Australian government placed a snagging steamer on the river to clear it of the worst of the snags, but one vessel could not be expected to cope with the entire length of the river. Like icebergs, the bulk of snags was underwater, and would always be a source of danger.

The steamer captains' answer was to prepare long cloth scrolls with charts that detailed the river - mileages, dangerous snags, sandbanks, stations, woodpiles, wool sheds, billabongs and more. These could be unwound as the riverboats passed by.

Many captains mounted their charts in a special box in the wheelhouse and turned the chart on rollers. Additions could easily be made to these charts. This particular chart was recorded in ink on calico.

Not many of the charts survive today, but those that do are a testament to the nature of the major Australian river system, and the hazardous 'highway' of the past.

Permission to use this item for any purpose, including publishing, is not required from the State Library under these conditions of use.

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