LOCUSTID^ LOCUSTS. 107 



church of Alraaden, and devoured the silk garments that 

 adorned the images of the saints, not sparing even the 

 varnish on the altars.^ 



In 1750 and '53 Poland was again devastated by Locusts.^ 



i In June, 1772, there were several swarms of "large black 



flies of the Locust kind," that did incredible damage to the 



fruits of the earth, seen in England. Salt water, it is said, 



was found effectual in destroying them.^ 



From 1778 to 1780 the empire of Morocco was terribly 

 devastated by Locusts : every green thing was eaten up, not 

 even the bitter bark of the orange and pomegranate escap- 

 ing — a most dreadful famine ensued. The poor wandered 

 over the country, in search of a wretched subsistence from the 

 roots of plants. They picked, from the dung of camels, the 

 undigested grains of barley, and devoured them with eager- 

 ness. Vast numbers perished, and the streets and roads 

 were strewed with the unburied carcasses. On this sad oc- 

 casion, fathers sold their children, and husbands their wives. 

 When they visit a country, says Mr. Jackson, from whom 

 we have gathered the above facts, speaking of the same 

 empire, it behooves every one to lay in provision for a 

 famine, for they stay from three to seven years. When they 

 have devoured all other vegetables, they attack the trees, 

 consuming first the leaves and then the bark.* 



To prevent the fatal consequences which would have re- 

 sulted from a passage of Locusts in 1780 near Bontzhida, in 

 Transylvania, fifteen hundred persons were ordered each to 

 gather a sack full of the insects, part of which were crushed, 

 part burned, and part interred. Notwithstanding this, very 

 little diminution was remarked in their numbers, so aston- 

 ishing was their multiplication, until very cold and sharp 

 weather had come on. In the following spring there were 

 millions of eggs disinterred and destroyed by the people, 

 who were levied "en masse" for the operation; but not- 

 withstanding all this, many places of tolerable extent were 

 still to be found, in which the soil was covered with young 

 Locusts, so that not a single spot was left naked. These 



1 Dillon's Trav. in Spain, quot. in Ins. (Murray, 1838), ii. 205. 



2 Gent. Mag., xx. 382; xxiii. 387. 



3 Ibid., xlii. 293. 



* .Jackson's Trav. in Morocco, p. 105. Cf. Lempriere, Pinkerton's 

 Col. of Voy. and Trav., xv. 709. 



