CH. XII.j THE LOCUST, ETC. 185 



that comes in the way. It is not surprising that 

 they should be fond of the most juicy plants and 

 fruits, such as melons, and all manner of fruits and 

 herbs, and feed also on aromatic plants, such as 

 lavender, thyme, and rosemary, which are so com- 

 mon in Spain, that they serve to heat ovens ; but it 

 is very singular that they eat equally mustard-seed, 

 garlic, and onions — nay, hemlock, and the most 

 rank and poisonous plants, such as the deadly night- 

 shade and the thorn-apple ; they will even prey 

 upon crowsfoot, whose causticity burns the very 

 body of beasis ; and such is their universal taste, 

 that they do not prefer the innocent mallow to the 

 bitter furze, or rue to wormwood, consuming all 

 alike, without predilection or favour, with this re- 

 markable circumstance, that during the four years 

 they committed such dreadful havoc in Estrema- 

 dura, the love-apple, or Solanum lycopersicon of Lin- 

 naeus, was the only plant that escaped their rapa- 

 cious teeth, and claimed a respect to its root, leaves, 

 flower, and fruit. Naturalists may search for their 

 motives, which I am at a loss to discover ; the more, 

 as I saw millions of them alight on a field near Al- 

 maden, and devour the woollen and linen garments 

 of the peasants, which were lying to dry on the 

 ground. The curate of the village, a man of ve- 

 racity, at whose house I was, assured me that a 

 body of them entered the church, and devoured the 

 silk garments that adorned the images of the saints, 

 not sparing even the varnish on the altars. Out of 

 curiosity to know the nature of so formidable a 

 creature, I was urged to examine all its parts with 

 the utmost exactness. Its head is of the size of a 

 pea, though longer, its forehead pointing down- 

 wards, hke the handsome Andalusian horse ; its 

 mouth is large and open, its eyes black and rolling, 

 added to a timid aspect, not unlike a hare. In its 

 two jaws it has four incisive teeth, whose sharp 

 points traverse each other like scissors, their mech- 



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