Year: 1866

There are several varieties of locusts
That which belongs to Asia, and may be
called the flying locusts, differs from the
other species in the conformation of the


head, the oval form of the eyes, the strength
Of the mandibles, and the exceptional. size


of the posterior claws. The male is rather


smaller than the female, and Of a yellow


color


The insects of this family are one of the
most terrible plaques not only Of Egypt
but Of all Asia, the Archipelago, and Orcn-
tai Europe For nearly two months, from
Cairo to Damascus, the writer from whose
account our description is taken, accom-
panied friend on a journey during the
season when the locuSts are expected and
in the plains Of Esdraelon and maratime
Ph@nicia they were nearly blinded by the
swarms which, attracted by the fertile val
leys, regarded no obstacle to their passage,
but even struck the faces of the travellers
with the force of hailstones, and lay in
thick masses on the road beneath the hor-
ses hoofs.


The locusts is regarded by many Of the
Orientals as a forerunner of war or pesti-
lcnce, and it is recorded that they had not
appeared either in Egypt Or Syria for near
ly fifteen years when, scarcely a month
after their arrival, cholera and typhus raw
aged the whole coast of the Mediterranean
and the shores of the Black Sea- The ra-
pacity of the locust is not the only evil
which characterizes it for when once the
work Of destruction is accomplished the
insects die and cover a large extent of
country with their decaying carcasses,
causing pestilential maladies of the worst
description


In the course of the voyage of the travel
ers with caravan their party stopped to
breakfast on the slope of mountain over
looking the plain of Esdraelon to the left
was mount Tabor and the Little Hermon,
and afar off the mountains of Samaria, while
facing them at the end of the plain could
be seen the tiny village Of Djonin, which
was almost lost in the haze although
such was the clearness Of the air above the
plain that even distant objects could be
seen with singular distinctness. Sudden
ly remarkable sound was heard, which
resembled the hum of a great workshop,
and the rays of the sun were obscured by
vast widely spreading cloud of locusts,
which broke suddenly above the valley,
upon which the insects dropped like snow
fakes covering the ground with their vel
low bodies, which moved and undulated
like foam upon water.


Unless high wind prevails, and the To-
Gusts are driven townrd the sea, there is no
remedy but to submit to the stripping of
every green leaf from the trees and the
utter disappearance of every blade of grass
from the earth, which they leave as bare
as though it had been scorched with fire
In the valleys the chase Of the locusts is
in a very primitive manner viz,
by the pe0ple-men, women, and children
.arming themselves with long branches,
and wooden drums or boxes, on which they
beat, while they sing a sort of monotonous
chant of religious character, at the same
time spreading themselves over the plain
in order to alarm the invaders 1t is a
singular spectacle to witness this ceremo-
ny from neighboring height, where the
gestures and the costumes of the people,
and their wild songs, are strangely inter-
esting.