The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1885-06-20

their provender, HergreyhoundS ran
swapping after them all day long
eating as many as they could catch :;
aud, ON eXaming the stomach of a
hyena shot by her husband, it was
found to be full of locusts and gazelIe.
She says the Bedouins often give
them to their horses, and at the time
Other visit to Arabia many tribes had
no food whatever but locusts and
came's milk.
Lady Anne mentions them as be-
ing regular portion of the days pro-
vision in camp. When first she tasted
them, in December, she pronounced
them fairly good. but by February
she had decided that they were an
Aexcellent article of diet, the red l0-
Iusts being better eating than the
green ones. She was uncertain Wheth-
er the red are the females and the
green the males, or whether all were
at first green, and became red as they
advanced in age. 1t seems probable,
however, that she is describing two
distinct varieties, known in Cyprus
as the large green IrOUchOS and the
still larger lightbrOWn ScdrHOS. Tn ir
! flavor is more like that of green
wheat than of either fish or flesh, and
in the daily ratiOnS they were con-
Sidered in a measure to take the place
of vegetables. After trying various
| methods of cooking it was voted that
they were best when plain boiled :;
their long legs were then pulled off,
and they were held by the wings,
dipped into SALT and SO eaten with
much relish. They are large, hand
some insects, very like grasshOppers.
! but three inches in length, or four
inches measuring from the head to
the toe of the closed wings. The best
| time to catch them is in the morn
ing, when they are half-benumbed
| by the chill of night, and their wings
are damp with dew, so that they can
not fly. Then they lie thickly cluS-
tered under every bush that can afford
them shelter, and can easily be cap
tured and shOvelled into baskets.
| But when the sun has warmed the
earth and dried their wings, they are
all on the alert, and spring away at
the approach of the hunter, who
nevertheless can often strike them
down with sticks as they.fy. On De-
cemher 81 Lady Anne records that
the previous night had been so cold
that all the lOcusts were dead, and
the small birds of the desert were
holding high festival.
| myself have seen considerable
number5 of locuStS Winging their
flight across the Red SEA, from Ara
bia towards Egypt. Many fell on the
deck of the vessel in which [ was
sailing. At another time, when cross
ing the HimaIayas, overlooking the
valley Of the SutIedge, remarked a
tremulOuS appearance in the atmOs-
phere. as Of a mirage. Ga further in
vestIgation. | ascertained that this
strange quiYering was produced by
the gIancing of light on the myriad
wings Of q great swarm Of lOcuSts,
which were passing over the valley
like cloud. But those giimpses OF
the locust hosts were as nothing com.
pared with the vast flights described
by my brother Roualeyn, (R. G0r-
don Cumming,) in the interior OF
South Africa. He was standing in
the middle of an immense plain
when he first noticed their approach.
On they came, like a snOWstOrm, fly
lag slow and steady, about hundred
yards from the ground. He stood
looking at them until the air was
darkened with their masses, while
the plain on which he stood became
denSely covered with them. Far as
the eye could reach-east, west, north
south-they stretched in one unbrok,
en- cloud, and more than an hOul
elapsed before their devastating lie.
gions had swept by.
Not long afterwards he fell in with
another swarm. He was marching
through heavy sandy country o.
boundless level plains, covered will
rank yellow grass, varied with de
tached cIumps of thorny mimosas
. He came upon a swarm Of locust,
J which had alighted to rest for The
night on the grass aud bushes. They
/ lay so thick that they covered the
, large bushes, just as a swarm Of youna
bees covers the branch on which il
pitches. He could easily have col
lected enough to fiji all his large wag
, ous, the piercing cold of night, witt
! white hoar frost, haying rendered
them unable to take wing until The
sun should restore their powers.
) He met a party of natives carryin!
, heavy burdens fthpm on their backs