54 MEMOIR OF BURCKHARDT* 



the residence of Og, king of Bashan. It was on 

 this route that he saw for the first time a swarm of 

 locusts ; so completely did they cover the surface of 

 the ground, that his horse killed numbers of them at 

 every step ; and it was Avith the greatest difficulty 

 that he could protect his face from their attacks. In 

 Syria this species is called djcrad nedjdyat^ or flying 

 locusts, to distinguish them from the djerad dshhof^ 

 or devouring locusts. The former have a yellow 

 bod}'-, a gray breast, and wings of a dirty white, 

 with gray spots. The latter have white wings and 

 a whitish gray body. The flying kind are much 

 less dreaded than the other, because they feed only 

 on the leaves of trees and vegetables, sparing the 

 wheat and barley. The Bedouins eat locusts, swal- 

 lowing them entire. They are never serVed up as a 

 dish ; but every one takes a handful of them when 

 hungry, out of a large sack, into which they are 

 put, with the mixture of a little salt, after they have 

 been dried in the sun, and roasted slightly upon the 

 iron plate used for baking bread. 



A journey of four days brought the traveller to 

 Djerash, formerly one of the principal towns of the 

 Decapolis, situated on a small river of the same 

 name which empties itself into the Wadi Zerka> 

 probably the Jabok of Scripture. The extent and 

 magnificence of the ruins prove the importance and 

 magnitude of that ancient city. The ground for 

 three or four miles in circumference is strewn with 

 fallen temples, broken capitals, rows of lofty columns, 

 the remains of theatres, and aqueducts, &c., with 



