Sahl left Queensland in 1870 for Sydney in the Colony of New South Wales and joined the mercantile firm of Rabone, Feez and Company, rising from a general clerk to be a senior partner.

As a result of Sahl's complaints, Chancellor Otto von Bismarck responded with diplomatic efforts to resolve the dispute.

[9] These efforts led to the establishment in 1885 of an Anglo-German Mixed Commission, which issued compensation to various disallowed claims, including Sahl's, who received £9000.

[12] At Longwood, Sahl maintained a distinguished social calendar, receiving many notables including Pianist Anton de Kontski, French Consul-General Georges Biard d'Aunet, Governor of Fiji Sir John Bates Thurston and Major General Edward Hutton.

In significantly bad health, in early 1897 Sahl suffered from "an attack of inflammation of the lungs", which led to his death at his Sydney residence on 1 April.