From Mitchell's furthest point, he traced it a considerable distance to the north-west, and at last found its termination in a large swampy lake, which he called after the first Governor of South Australia, Lake Hindmarsh.

From this lake he could find no outlet, so taking with him two men, he made an attempt to push through to the Murray, leaving his cattle to await him.
He found the country covered with an almost impenetrable mallee scrub, and as there was neither grass nor water for the horses, he was forced to retreat.

He reached his camp after a weary struggle on foot, the horses having died from thirst.

Eyre was then compelled to return and gain the bank of the Murray by the nearest available route.

The bitter disappointment of the trip was, that when forced to retreat by the inhospitable nature of the country, he was but twenty-five miles from the river.
Bonney, however, on another occasion, took a mob of cattle from the Goulburn River to Adelaide in almost a direct line.