LOCUSTS USED AS FOOD. 337 



is curious. It is like a tliiu, dark streak, which increases in 

 density every moment till it has arrived. Any computation of 

 the number of insects of which such a swarm consists, would 

 be quite impossible. 



" What strikes everyone, as they approach, is the strange 

 rustling of millions on millions of crisp wings. Often after 

 this there were flights, but it was impossible to trace their 

 direction, nor is it certainly known w^here they generally breed. 

 Many swarms settled in the Punjaub, where they laid their eggs 

 in the ground, and thousands of men, women, and children col- 

 lected these, and they were destroyed. Still, many remained, 

 and the young wingless larvae crawled over the ground, creating 

 far greater havoc than their winged parents. 



" When they come, everyone turns out with pots, kettles, and 

 pans, and makes as much noise as he can. This certainly pre- 

 vents them from settling, and I thus twice saved my garden, and 

 trust never to see them again. 



" In the evening I had asked two gentlemen to dinner to meet 

 the doctor, and I gave them a curry and croquet of locusts. They 

 passed as Cabul shrimps, which in flavour they much resembled, 

 but the cook having inadvertently left a hind leg in a croquet, 

 they were found out, to the infinite disgust of one of the party, 

 and the amusement of the others. Here is a receipt for cooking 

 them, taken from the Akhhar, a native Algerine journal, under 

 date August 1866 : — ' Criquets d la Benoiton. — Take the locust 

 gently between the finger and thumb of the left hand ; cut it in 

 two with a knife, and pour into the animal's inside a small 

 quantity of good rum ; let it stand two days, and then cover 

 it with a fritter paste and fry them. Then sprinkle with 

 sugar, and pour into the dish a small quantity of Burgundy.' 

 I never tried it. 



" The bodies were as tough as leather in the curry, and quite 

 uneatable ; but the croquets, in which they were well broken 

 up after having been deprived of their legs, heads, wings, and 

 wing-cases, were very fair ; and if thoroughly sun-dried, with 

 a little salt, I can fancy, when ground and mixed with other 

 food, they would be very tasty. Our Mahommedan servants 

 ate them, and they told us how that in many parts they were 

 extensively used, being dried and kept in sacks. All animals, 

 such as cattle and camels, are said to like them ; and amongst 

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