The Statesman.
London, England, 1812-09-07 00:00:00

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DEPREDAT lONS OP LOCUSTS IN THE
EMPIRE OP MOROCCO.

RELATED BY MR. JACKSON.

" Locusts are produced from some unknown phy-
sical cease, and proceed from the Desert, aluu)s
coming from the south. When they visit a country,
it behoves every individual to lay iu a provision
against a famine; for they are mid to stay three, five,
or seven years. During my residence in West and
Soith Barbary, these countries sintfered a visitation
from them during seven years. They have a Govern-
ment among themselves, similar to that of the bees
and ants; and when the (Sultan .lerrad) king of the
locusts rises, the whole body follow him, not orie so-
litary straggler being left behind to oitness the devas..l
talon. When they have eaten all other vegetation, ,
they attack the trees, consuming first the leaves, and
thep the ,bark, so that the country, in the midst al
summer, from their unsparing rapacity, bears Sheface
of winter. In my travels, I have seen them so thick
on the ground, as sometimes actually to have covered
my horse's hoofs as he went along; it is very annoying,i
to travel through a host of them, as they are coatki
totally flying in your face, and settling on your heeds
nod clothes. At. a distance, they appear, in the air,
like an immense cloud, darkening the sun; and whilst
employed in devouring the produce of the land, it has
been obserscd that they uniformly proceed one way,
is regularly as.a.disciplioed army on its march •, nor
will it be possible to disco‘er a single one going n
different way from the rest. In travelling from Mo- ,
gotior to Tangier, before: the plague, in 1799, the
country was covered: with them : a singular Incident
then occurred at El Araiche ; the whole country,
from the confines of Sahara to that place, was ra-
vaged by them ; but after crossing the river El Kos,
they were not to be seen, though there was nothing
to prevent them from dying across it ; moreover
they were all moving that way, that is to the north ;
but when they reached the hanks of the river, they
proceeded eastward, so that the gardens and fields
north of El Araiche were full of vegetables, fruits,
and grain.
" The Arabs of the province of El Garb consi-
dered this remarkable circumstance as an evideut in-
terposition of Providence.
" This curse of Heaven can only be conceived by
those who have seen the dismal effects of their de-
vastation : the poor people, by living on them, be-
come meagre and indolent, for no labour will
yield fruit, whilst the locusts continue ihcreasing inl
numbers. In the rainy season they partially disap-
pear, and at the opening of the spring the ground is
covered with their young ; those crops of corn which
are first mature, and the grater whiCh becomes har-
dened before the lomat attains its full growth, are
likely to escape, provided there be other crops less
forward for them to feed upon.
" In the year 1799, these destructive insects
were carried away into the Western Ocean by a vio-
lent hurricane; and the shores were afterwards co-
vered with their dead bodies, which, in many places,
emitted a pestilential smell; that is, wherever the
laud was low, or where the salt water had not wash-
ed them ; to this event succeeded a most abundant
crop of corn, the lands which had lain fallow fur
years, being now cultivated; but the produce of
the cultivation was accompanied with a most in-
fections and deadly plague, a calamity of which the
locusts have often been observed to be the fore-run.
nets."

Acctorstr.—Saturday morning a labouring brick.
layer fell from a scaffold, in Skinner-street, and
was taken up in a lifeless state, and conveyed on a
shutter to St. Bartholomew's Ilospital, where he
died shortly afterwards. An Inquest will be held
on the body this day.
CO RON ER'S I NQC L.q.—An Inquest was held on
Friday afternoon, at St. Bartholomew's Hospital,
before THOMAS SHELTON, Esq. Coroner for the City
of London, on view of the body of a young child,
who met its death on the day preceding, by falling
out of a window, near Finsbury-square.—Verdict,
Accidental Death.
At a Meeting of the Committee of the Boston
Agricultural Society, a premium of ten guineas was
adjudged to Mr. Wm. HownEm, of Boston, for con-
structing a machine by which the produce of an acre
of corn was completely thrashed, and the straw
raked off, in 40 minutes.
FOOT RACE.—Several Officers in Woodbridge bar-
racks, matched, fur a considerable sum of money, a
private in the Royal horse Artillery, and a private
in the Glamorgan Militia, to tun four times round
the barrack-square, being three miles and upwards,
which was performed on Tuesday se•nnight, and won
by the former, having accomplished it in about 14
minutes. The winner vas complimented with ten
guineas.

Firm—A destructive fire broke out about twelve
o'clock on Friday night, at the Fox and Hounds Pub-
lic-house, Guildford-street, Loman's Pond, South-
wark, which rage.tl with the utmost fury, and com-
municated to the two adjoining houses, which were
entirely burnt to the ground, owing to the waist of
water. The houses on: the opposite side of the street
also took lire • but, by the great activity of the fire-
men, were saved from destruction. The St. George's
Volunteers attended to guard the property of the
suffering inhabitants.
A farmer in Sothersetthire states, in a letter to
the Society of Arts, that he constructs temporary
ricks to secure corn In sheaves, in the fields, till
quite dry, as well as clover, peas, and beans, by
means of four gate hurdles, two of which he sets on
the outside, perpendicular, and two middle ones,
inclining against and supporting each other. These
hurdles are usually eight feet long; the two heads,
in which the four bars are mortised, have pointed'
ends of about a foot and a Off long ; the two out-
side ones are to be forced into the ground, nearly to
their full length, so that the middle brace may rest
ou the ground, to afford some support, and the two
middle ones about six inches, to keep them steady.
Stakes are then placed on the bars, on which the
sheaves, &c. rest : they do not, tate more than fire
minutes in constructing. The hurdles may be ap-
plied to the purpose of temporary hovels for sheep
in wet weather.
Saturday, at Hattee-garden, two miscreants, one
of them a vender of artificial. flowers, the other a
private in the Guardsi went fully Omitted for