Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1888-04-26
THE FLIGHT OF THE LOCUSTS.

They Eat up Every Green Thing. and Leave
the Earth Desert.
An army of locusts is a wonderful and
an interesting sight to the traveller who
does not own yard of soil, and is a mere
onloOker at their rightful devastation.
says the English Mechanic. It is Attila
and his innumeraSle horses rushing over
the vegetable world. Today the wide
plaias are shining green with dense foil
age; tomorrow nothing but brown twigs
and bare branches, when the leg1ons
move off on their combined mission.
As they arrived, the dense, dark clouds
moving q p from the hotizon, and often
obscuring che suns rays, proclaim the
approach Of the widely dreaded scourge.
The alarmed villagers congregate on the
ex expected line of march, beating drums
and brass pots, shouting and lighting
bonfres and making all kinds of hideous
noises. On one occasion, in South Africa
drove off the enemy from a friends
garden by making fou heaps of damp
rubbish-one at each cOrner--in prepar-
alton, and then, lighting them at the
proper moment, we dispersed the ad
vance guard, our column of thick smoke
being carried by the wind upon the main
body, which altered its route. Horses
and oxen, their heads and nostrils tor
mented by the clinging limbs of the
sWalms, were boiling away to the woods,
kiching and plunging IN bheir hasty figh t.
3 Kissing, cracking sound arose on all
sides, and the whole air seemed to be oc-
cupied by the falling and flying lamps
mischief. The locust 'birds" "a kind of
crane) lowered in small parties on their
TANKS, and subsisted on very small per-
centage of the insect hosts. In desert
localities the hungry pests actually
pitched on bones, mating, sticks, ETC.,
and failing in meal attacked and de-
voured each other. Ga another occasion
[ drove for miles along a sandy tract.
the wheels of the vehicle crushing nv
riads of the newly matched insects, all
crawling and creeping, with migratory
instinct, toward the cultivated tracts. In
India the locust visits are fewer between,
but far more formidable, owing to the
overwhelming masses. Som etimes a
series of clouds, com posed of their flights
cover several miles simultaneously. For
tunately, there are several bids and
beasts in quest Of their bodies, and I
have even seen them sailed, dried, and
sold in the markets. I have often inspect
ed a dish of curried locust, but could not
Drlng sufhclenG amount OF curiosity to
bear on the tasting experiment, though a
prawny odor went up with the steam.
The fishes are great devourers of these
winged visitors, for they fall into lakes
and rivers during changes of wind and
weather. Besides fires made of green
rubbish at the top, 1 found gunpowder
explosions very useful in soaring them
away from the vicinity of my garden.
bo, 1
on my grass land I loaded my gun with
dust shot, and stopping low on the ground
discharged the contents of both barrels
into their midst. Having done SO several
times enjoyed the welcome sight of
seeing them rising into the air and going
elsewhere. I have no doubt small can
non on such occasions, heavily loaded
with sharp sand, would hasten their
fight.