Mr. Poole was
short and stout like Sir Thomas Mitchell, and personally very much
resembled him; moreover, he wore a blue foraging cap, as, I believe, Sir
Thomas did; be that as it may, they took Mr. Poole for that officer, and
were exceedingly sulky, and Nadbuck informed us that they would certainly
spear him. It was necessary, therefore, to explain to them that he was
not the individual for whom they took him, and we could only allay their
feelings by the strongest assurances to that effect; for some time,
indeed, they were inclined to doubt what we said, but at length they
expressed great satisfaction, and to secure himself still more Mr. Poole
put on a straw hat. Nevertheless, there were manifestations of turbulence
amongst the younger men on several occasions, and they certainly
meditated, even though, for particular reasons, they refrained from any
act of violence.
The constant rain had made the ground in a sad state. There was scarcely
any stirring out of the tents into the tenacious clay of the flat in
which they were pitched; and the Darling, continuing to rise, overflowed
its banks, drove our cattle from their feed, and obliged us to send them
to a more distant point. In the midst of all this we were, on the 13th,
most agreeably surprised by the appearance of our friend Camboli, with
two other natives from Lake Victoria. Camboli brought despatches and
letters in reply to those I had sent from the lake.
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