Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1856-02-14
EVENING STAR,
THE LOCUST PLAGUE,

Voyageurs, &c We extract from the proc
sheets Of this forthc oming work, an accoun
of the :" Locust Flight" a graphic episode il
the life Of a Dutch family at the Cape O
Good Hope:
Won Bloom slept but little Anxiety kep
him awake. He turned and tossed, and though
| OF the lOcusts. He mapped at intervals, anC
dreamt about locusts, and crickets, and grass
| hoppers, and all manner of great, long legged
goggle-eyed insects lie wa. glad when tn,
| hrst ray OF light penetrated through the littl,
window Of his chamber.
| He sprang to his feet; and scarce STAYING I,
| dress himself, rushed out into the open air
1t was still dark, but he did not require {,
| see the wind. He did not need to toss :
feather or hold up his hat The truth was to,
plain. A strong breeze was blowing from IA,
| B'est,
Hail distracted, he ran further out to assure
himself. He ran until clear of the walls, IA at
enclosed the kraalS and garden.
! He halted and felt the air. Alas his frs
impression was correct. The breeze blew di.
rectly from the west-directly from the To-
Gusts. He could perceive the efiiuvium borne
from the hateful insects: there was no longer
cause to doubt.
| Groaning in spirit, Won Bloom returned to
| his house. He had no longer any hope of es.
Gaping the terrible visitation.
HIS hrst directions were to collect all the
| loose pieces of linen or clothing in the house,
and pack them within the family chest.
what would the loeusts be likely to eat
| theml
Indeed, yes-for these voracious creatures
are not fastidious. No particular vegetable
seems to be chosen by them. The leaves OF
the bitter tobacco plant appear to be as much
to their liking as the sweet and succulent
blades OF maize Pieces of linen. cotton and
even flannel, are devoured BY them as thou Oh
they were tender shoots of plants Stones,
iron and hard wood are about the only OBJ
Jects that escape their fierce masticatoIs
Won Bloom had heard this, Hans had read
OF II, and SWartbsy confirmed il from his OWE
experience.
Consequently, everything that was at all de-
structble was carefully slowed away; and
then breakfast was cooked and eaten in si-
lence.
There was gloom over the faces of all, be-
cause he who was the head Of all was silent
and detected What change within a few
hours. But the evening before the field cor.
net and his little family were in the full en-
JOyment of happiness.
There was still one hope, though a slight
one Might it yet rain? Or might the day
turn out cold2
In either case Swartboy said the locusts
could not take wing-for they could not fly in
cold or rainy weather. In tie event of cold
were, and, perhaps, the wind might change
round again before they resumed their flight
Oh, for torrent of rain, or a cold cloudy day
Vain wish vain hope, In half an hour
after the sun rose up in African splendor, and
his hot rays, slanting down upon the sleeping
hosts, warmed them into life and activity
They commenced to crawl, to hop about, and
then, as If by one impulse, myriads rose into
the air. The breeze impelled them in the
direction in which il was blowing-in the di-
rectiOn Of the devoted maize-fields
In less than FIVE minutes from the time tLey
had taken wing they were over the kraal,
and dropping in tens of thousands upon the
surrounding fields. Slow was their I'll ght, and
gentle their descent and to the eyes of those
beneath they presented the appearance of
shower Of black snow, falling In large feathery
fakes. In few moments the ground was
completely covered, until every stalk of maize,
every plant and bush, carried its hundreds
On the outer plains too, as far eye could
see, the pasture was strewed thickly; and as
the great flight had now passed to the east
ward of the house, the suns disk was again
hidden by them as if by an eclipse,
They seemed TO move in a kind of echekion,
the bands IN the rear constantly flying to the
front, and then halting to feed, until in turn
these were headed by others that had advanced
over them in a similar manner
The noise produced by their wings was not
the least curious phenomenon; and resembled
steady breeze playing among the leaves of
the forest, or the sound of a water-wheel.
Fer two hours this passage continued. Dur
ing most of that time, Won Bloom and his peo-
pie had remained within the house, with
closed doors and windows. This they did to
avoid the unpleasant shower, as the creatures,
impelled by the breeze, often strike the cheek
so torcibly as to cause a feeling Of pain. More
over, they did not like treading upon the un-
welcome intIuders, and crushing them under
their feet, which they must have done, had
they moved about outside where the ground
was thickly covered.
Many of the insects even crawled inside,
through the chinkS Of the door and windows,
and greedily devoured any vegetable sub
stance which happened to be lying about the
floor.
At the end of two hours Won Bloom looked
forth. The thickest of the flight had passed.
The sun was agrin shining; but upon what
was he shining? No longer upon green fields
and fowery garden. No. Around the house
on every side, north, south, east, and west, the
eye rested only on black desOlatiUn Not a
blade of grass, not leaf could be seen-even
the very bark was stripped from the trees,
that now stood as if withered by the hand Of
God Had fire swept the surface, it could not
have left if more naked and desOlate. There
was no garden there were no fields Of maize
or buckwheat, there was no longer farm
the kraal stood in the midst Of desert.
Words cannot depict the emotions Of the
feld-cornet at that moment. The pen cannot
describe his painful feelings.
Such change in two hours, He could
scarce credit his senses-he could scarce be-
lieve in its reality. He knew that the locusts
would eat up his maize and his wheat, and
the vegetables of his garden; but his fancy
had fallen far short Of the desolation that had
actually been produced. The whole land
scape was metamOrphosed-grass was out Of
the question-trees whose delicate flIiage
had played in the soft breeze but two short
hours before, now cd lsafess, scatl Sl oy
wJrse th IN winter. The very ground seemed
altered in shape! He would not have known
it as his own farm. Most certainly had the
owner been absent during the period Of the
locust fight, and approaches without any In.
formation of what had been passing, he would
not have recognised the place of his own habi-
tition?
With the phlegm peculiar to his race, the
feld-cornet sat down, and remained for long
time without speech or movement
His children gathered near, and looked on
their young hearts painfully throbbing. They