Drifter drew near unsteadily (8)
I believe the answer is:
wanderer
'drifter' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'drew near unsteadily' is the wordplay.
'unsteadily' is an anagram indicator.
'drew'+'near'='drewnear'
'drewnear' is an anagram of 'WANDERER'.
(Other definitions for wanderer that I've seen before include "Aimless traveller" , "Errand we run for rover" , "Peripatetic" , "Nomad" , "Errand we entrust to one who roams" .)