Surveyor-General Arthur Freeling decided to investigate himself the discoveries made by Assistant Surveyor George Goyder in the far north of the colony. Goyder's report of plentiful grasses and ample water had created a sensation among pastoralists and land speculators. In the few months difference between the dates of their expeditions the water had dried up and the luxuriant grasses had disappeared. Freeling had taken a boat as suggested by Goyder in his report, but in attempting to float the flat bottomed boat in the lake the men had to carry it hundreds of yards from the shore, and still there was insufficent water to float it. There could be no exploration to the north-west using the lake. Freeling himself observed some of the effects of mirage experienced by Goyder, but was wise enough of this phenomenon to not be fooled by it.

The problem of Edward Eyre's concept of a horseshoe shaped Lake Torrens had not yet been disproved, nor had the true nature of South Australia's inland been revealed. There was still some residual belief in an inland sea. By the end of 1858 however the gaps between the arc of salt lakes would have been discovered and a path to the interior opened.

Freeling, A. H. (Arthur Henry), 1820-1885

Goyder, G. W. (George Woodroffe), 1826-1898

State Library of South Australia: Mortlock Wing. Taking it to the edge August 2004-