122 TRUE TALES OF THE INSECTS. 



They are by no means rapid swimmers ; but do not 

 easily drown, their habit of continually changing places 

 and hopping and creeping round and round upon each 

 other being most advantageous as a means of preserva- 

 tion. It is a common practice for these young locusts 

 to form a bridge over a moderately broad stream by 

 plunging indiscriminately into it and holding on to 

 each other, grappling like drowning men at sticks or 

 straws, or, indeed, anything that comes within their 

 reach, that will assist in floating them ; meanwhile 

 those from behind are eagerly pushing forward over the 

 bodies of those that are already in the stream and hurry- 

 ing on to the front, until at length by this process the 

 opposite bank of the river is reached ; so that a floating 

 mass of living locusts is stretched across the stream, 

 forming a bridge over which the whole swarm passes. 

 In this ingenious fashion few, comparatively speaking, 

 are drowned, because the same individuals do not remain 

 in the stream during the whole of the time occupied by 

 the swarm in crossing, the insects continually changing 

 places with each other ; those that are beneath are 

 striving to reach the surface by climbing over others, 

 whilst those above them are, in their turn, being forced 

 below. Locusts are exceedingly tenacious of life, re- 

 maining under water for a length of time without injury. 

 An apparently drowned locust will revive if exposed to 

 the warm rays of the sun, should it by chance reach the 

 bank or be cast ashore. 



