MOTIONS OF INSECTS. 375 



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 shower; 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 com- 

 posed of an unbroken string of ephemerae, which fol- 

 lowed 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 



