MOTIONS OF INSECTS. 375 



surface of water, of five or six feet dimensions every- 

 way, was entirely covered with a thick layer of them, 

 and those which the stream swept away were more 

 than replaced by the multitudes that were continually 

 falling. I was repeatedly compelled to abandon my 

 station, from not being able to bear the shower of 

 insects, which, not falling perpendicularly like rain, 

 struck me incessantly and in a manner extremely 

 uncomfortable, pelting against every part of my face, 

 and filling my eyes, nose, and mouth almost to suffo- 

 cation. On this occasion it was no pleasant post to 

 hold the light, for our torch-bearer had his clothes 

 covered with the insects in a few moments, which 

 rushed in from all quarters to overwhelm him, 



*■ The light of the torch gave origin to a spectacle 

 which enchanted every one who beheld it, and alto- 

 gether different from a meteorological skower ; even 

 the most stupid and unobserving of my domestics were 

 never satisfied with gazing at it. No armillary sphere 

 was ever formed of so many circular zones in every 

 possible direction, having the light for their common 

 centre. Their number seemed to be infinite, crossing 

 each other in all directions, and in every imaginable 

 degree and inclination — all of which were more or 

 less oblique. Each of these zones was composed of 

 an unbroken string of ephemerae, which followed each 

 other close in the same line as if they had been tied 

 together head and tail, resembling a piece of silver 

 ribbon deeply indented on its edges, and consisting 

 of equal triangles placed end to end — so that the 

 angles of those that followed were supported by the 

 base of those which preceded, the whole moving 

 round with incredible velocity. This spectacle was 

 caused by the wings of the insects, which alone could 

 be distinguished. Each of these flies, after having 

 described one or two orbits, fell to the earth, or into 



