174 
SELECTION OF SUBORDINATES. 
was aware that their example would influence the rest. 
However well disposed the prisoners of the crown may 
be, (as in this instance they certainly were,) the bene- 
ficial example of steady discipline cannot be denied. 
I should not have considered myself justified in leaving 
the camp as I did for a week, and in detaching Mr. 
Hume at the same time when at the bottom of the 
marshes, or in making the last eflbrt to maintain our 
position on the banks of the Darling, if I had not reposed 
every confidence in the man to whom I entrusted the safety 
of the camp during my absence. 
Experience, therefore, of the value of the two soldiers, 
whom General Darling was good enough to permit me to 
take on the strength of the party, fully bears me out 
in recommending that one man, at least, of general respon- 
sibility shall be attached to all future expeditions. The 
success of an expedition depends so much on the conduct 
of the persons of whom it is composed, that too much atten- 
tion cannot be given to the selection even of the most sub- 
ordinate. Men of active intelligent minds, of persevering 
habits, and of even temper, should be preferred to me- 
chanics who do not possess these most requisite qualities. 
On the other hand, it is impossible to do without a good 
carpenter, however defective he may be in other respects. 
I was indebted to Mr. Maxwell, the superintendant of 
Wellington Valley, for some excellent men, both on my 
first and on my second journey, because he understood the 
nature of the service for which they were required, and the 
