The Olneyville tribune. (Providence, R.I.) 1893-189?, 1894-03-03
a FLIGHT OF lOCUSTS.
Vivid Description Of One of the
Plaques Of Egypt.

i saw Tor the trSt time That after
noosl a flight Of locusts, says Sir
Edwin Arnold in the London Tele-
graph. We were sitting on the hill
with our backs turned to the west
wind, which was softly blowing from
the Mediterranean. The horses were
picketed close by grazing the sweet
mountain grass. The Arabs OF our
caras- ~ were cooking "A ''pillaw" a
little distance Off. Around US were
laid out the wherewithals Of II light
lunch, among which was an open
marmalade jar. | was thinking Of
Ahab, and wondering how he could
put up 80 long with Elijah, especially
when, on this spot, the prophet said
to the king, AS the Lord liveth, in
this place, where dogs licked the
blood Of Naboth shall dogs lick thy
bloodzsX2en thine'--when suddenly,
right into the marmalade there drop
ped what | took for Il large grasshop-
per. 1t was yellow and green. with
long jumping legs and a big head,
and while | was taking it out Of the
jar two others fell into a plate Of
soup, and half-dozen more OF the
sam~Tnd upon Il dish Of salad.
At the same moment my horse
stamped violently, and | saw more of
these grass-hoppers pelting his locks
and launches. Turning round from
whence this insect shower came, !
witnessed what was to me an extra
ordinary spectacle, though common
enough, Of course, in the east. A
large cloud denSer in its lower
than its upper part, filled an eighth
part of the western hemicycle. The
remoter portion Of it was as thick,
rs brown, and brumous ~ a London
fog. The nearer side opened sudden
~ up into millions and billions, and
tr%illions and sextillions of the same
green-and-yellow insects, pelting i'm a
closc-winged crowd quite rs quickly
n flakes Of snow upon all the hill
sides near and far. You could not
stand Il moment against the agrees
sive and offensive rain OF these buz-
zing creatures. The horses even
swung themselves and stood with
lowered c%rests, taking the storm upon
their backs and TANKS. You had to
turn up the collar Of your coat to
keep them out OF. your neck, and
button the front not to have your
pockets filled with the repulsive
swarm, which in two minutes had so
peppered the whole scene round
about that its color and character
were entirely altered. Every little
creature of the interminable flight on
alighting veered himself round head
To wind on the earth, just aS il he
had dropped anchor and swung to
the breeze: and it was curious to
notice hat the general tint Of the
ground of their countless bodies was
brown if you looked to windward and
green if you ga2ed TO leeward.
But very quickly the only green to
be seer round about was the hue af-
forded by this sudden invasion. Even
while we prepared TO yield up the
spot to them and pack our lunch
baskets for departure they had
cleared off grass and leaves and every
verdant thing around and where
they rose again from the soil or
from any clump Of trees, in a hungry
throng, the place they quilted had
already assumed a barren and wintry
aspect. The Syrian peasants passing
along the roads were beating their
breasts and curSing the i'll fortune of
this plague. Some Of them, none
the less, gathered up a clothful of
the noxious things; for the locust is
distinctly edible. Half i'm wrath and
revenge, and half for a novelty in
diet. the Arabs 10 this day eat a few
of them, roast them i'm wire nets or
i'm ,arthen vessels over a slow fire
till the wings and legs drop of and
the locust becomes crisp, in which
state il tastes, rs | am able to say
from personal experiment, something
like an unsalted prawn. But il
seemed rs IL. had all Syria and the
globe itself taken to living on locusts,
they would hardly have made a sensi-
BILE mark upon the extraordinary
number that dritted that day over
our heads.