Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1826-06-06

portable and poisonous stencil. MS soon
broupb, on pesilence, which affected every
species of animal. so that birds, and sheep, and
calle. and even III wild beasts Of the held, Pc
risbed in orea, NUMBERS, and their carcases, be-
inp soon rendered,atrid by the foulness OF the
air, added greatly 20 the general corrupuon--
The destruction ofhe human species was hor-
rible: in Numidia,yhere at that time Micipsa
was king. eighty tbusand persons died; and IN
that mari of The sc;coast which borderfd upon
the region of Carthge and Utica, two hundred
thousand are saido have been carried Oil by
this pesliencc.
"rhS s,atemcnwil shew, that The locust
| is one OF the most ,rrhle instruments III the
hand of incensed favcn; it will discover the
| reason that m, ins:red writer's, IN dcnounc'ng
his judgments, s,.rcqent!! aiWd' to tins IN
sect, and threaten te sinner Win It's vengeance;
it accounts, in the .rU,t a".'a'tc'JY manner,
! for tie figures wa.sitHe prophets ." . when
they describe tie INCH o! c:p"t aud destrnC-
tive armies. from * Ch2rac'c" al hanits OF
this creature. laelarrat.'s T.. 'I"!, he
venot, and other tray !"'' % Ca sen al"
dcscribea the innnrera dc ;" F'.' u inc 10
casts, ;,Iid their wase ia ravlAt-. IA confirm
| the glowing description OF jori, at o .N'r IN
spirtd prophets "l nstion,' says JocI, has
come up upon mv an, strong aud without
| number. He has ,au my yInr waste, and DARK
ed nv f. ,ree; he hs made II clean bare, ana
cast il away; the punches thereof are made
whitc-thr I'VE is tried up, and the hG tee
angu!sheS, the ponegranate tree, inc PAM
| tree also, and The aplr-trtc, even all th' trees
! OF the cid are uithred; because JOY is wiiacr.
ed away from the s,us Of men. "A day oil dai r.,
ness aid Of ploonlncss, "a day Of clouds and
| thick darkness. FIRE dcyourcth before then,
| and behind them; fame burncth' ne! mar"
every Que in his ways; they do not break tntir
ranks, neither dos one thrust another. lh'
| land is as the garten of Eden before them, ana
behind them d:soiatc Wilderness. hey
shall run upon the wall; they shall cl'T'o upon
the houses; thew snail cnte" into tue WINDOWS
like thief. The earth shai! quake before
item; the heavens shall trem5l", the sun ana
the moon shall br darkcncd, and The stars snail
Withdraw their shining.
"In Barbary and Palestine, the looasts APP
pear about the latter end OF March. BY the
middle Of April th,ir Numbers arc SO increased
that in the heat Of the day they form themselves
irlo large and numerous swarms, ny III lhe an
like succession of clouds; and, as the PropHe'
Joel expresses it, darken the sun. "heh
brisk gale happens 20 blow, 50 'ha' 'heS.
; swar,ls are crowded by others, or thrown o"'
upon another, the musing and lntciliseh' .ua
weller obtains lively idea OF the rSai'''is,
comparison: :" am tossed up ana down 'h'
the locus,s.'' In the month OF May When inc
ovaries Of those insects are ripe and 'urS!o
each Of these swarms begins gradually 10 ais
appear. and retire into the plains, where inc!
dcDosit their eggs. These are 10 sooner hatCh
ed in June. than each Of the pFoods coiiec
themselves into a compact body, sometimes eA
tended more than rurlong on every side; ah'
then rna.eLin no directly towards the sea, the!
FfF hissF tetn and jdiey, lf6miH" Inc "shdt
and lowly vegetable, to the coasre leaf and bark
of the vine and the Pomegranaie In prosecn
Ting their work Of destruction, they keep THEN
ranks like soldiers in order Of battle, climbing
as they advance, over every tree or wall that
stands in their way; they enter into the very
houses and bed chambers like so many thieves
The inhabitants, to stop their motions, dig q
variety pits and trenches all over their fields
and gardens, which they fill with water, or with
heath stubb!e, and other Combustblc matter
which are set or fire apoA the approach Of the
| locust. But these contrivanCcs are all to no
| purpose, for the trenches are quickly filled up
and the fires extinguished, by infinite sM arms
succeeding one another; while the front is re-
! gardless of danger, and the rear presses OH so
closely, that retr'at is altogether impossible
A day or two after one Of these broods is in mo-
ton, others are ALREADY hatched 10 march and
CLEAN after them, g,awing of the very bark,
and the young branchcs Of such trees as had be-
fore escaped with til, loss only OF their i'uit and
foliage; so Justly have they been compared by
the prophet to 4 graf army.
I "Thc locust, it j. supposed by an eminent
traveller, who has len my guide in the prece-
ding description, WIS the noisome beast, or the
pernicious destructive animal, as the original
words NAV be Interpreted, which, with the
sword, the famine, md the pestllence, made the
four sore judgments, with which the prophet
Ezekiel threatened Jerpsalcm. The Jews were
allowed to eat then; and when sprinkled with
salt. and fried, they are not unlike our fresh
water cray fish, The Acridophagi must have
preferred them toaImost every other species OF
food, since Ihey d+rived their name from their
eating locus,s. We learn from the valuable
work ofDr RussdI, that the Arabs salt and eat
them as delicacy Locusts, were according
ly the common food OF John, the precursor OF
Christ, while he remained in the wilderness In
feeding on tina, ins,ct, the Baptist submitted to
no uncommon pri,aion, and prac,ised no saw
age rieour, like may Of the hermits who in
habi,cd the deserts but merely followed the alb
stemious mode OF living. to which the people
were accustomed, in the less treqnented parts