Eyre trusted that a range of hills, which he had seen stretching to the north-east, would continue far enough to take him clear of the flat and depressed country around Lake Torrens -- would, in fact, as he says, form a stepping-stone into the interior.
Taking one black boy with him, Eyre made a short trip to Lake Torrens, leaving the rest of the party to land the stores from the Waterwitch.

He found the bed of the lake coated with a crust of salt, pure white, and glistening brilliantly in the sunshine.

It yielded to the footstep, and below was soft mud, which rapidly grew so boggy as to stop their progress.

In fact they had to return to the shore without being able to ascertain whether there was any water on the surface or not.

At this point the lake appeared to be about fifteen or twenty miles across, having high land bounding it on the distant west.
There seemed no chance of crossing the lake; and following its shore to the north was impossible.