PRINGLE, THE POET OF SOUTH AFRICA. 83 



had sufficient opportunity to enable them to write with 

 accuracy upon such subjects. 



Mr. Pringle's poem however, has long been extolled 

 in the Cape Colony as a masterpiece of its kind, 

 and by common consent it is generally admitted to 

 be a most picturesque and lifelike description of South 

 African deserts and desert game. This is sufficiently 

 proved by the numerous quotations that have been 

 given from it in the various works of African travel 

 and this must serve as our excuse for inserting it here. 



The majestic character of the theme itself will be 

 readily apparent, and as a graphic description of 

 Desert Life it would probably be hard to match 

 Mr. Thomas Pringle's Poem, as given in George 

 Thompson's " Travels in South Africa " (i Vol. 4to, pub- 

 lished London 1827). 



AFAR IN THE DESERT. 



Afar in the desert, I love to ride, 



With the silent bushboy alone by my side, 



When the sorrows of life the soul o'ercast, 



And, sick of the present, I turn to the past; 



While the eye is suffused with regretful tears, 



From the fond recollection of former years; 



And the shadows of things that have long since fled, 



Flit o'er the brain, like the ghosts of the dead. 



Bright visions of glory, that vanish'd too soon; 



Day-dreams that departed, ere manhood's noon; 



Attachments by fate, or by falsehood reft; 



Companions of early days lost or left; 



And my Native Land ! whose magical name 



Thrills to mv heart like electric flame, 



