NDIRECT INJURIES CAUSED BY INSECTS. 223 



that they are not formed for such extensive flights. 

 " The grasshopper or locust," says he, " is not formed 

 for travelling over the sea, — it cannot fly far, but must 

 alight as soon as it rises ; — for one that came on board 

 us a hundred certainly were drowned. We observe in 

 the months of May and June a number of these insects 

 coming from the south, and directing their course to the 

 northern shore ; they darken the sky like a thick cloud : 

 but scarcely have they quitted the shore, when they, 

 who a moment before ravaged and ruined the country, 

 cover the surface of the sea with their dead bodies. — 

 By what instinct do these creatures undertake this dan- 

 gerous flight? Is it not the wise institution of the Cre- 

 ator to destroy a dreadful plague to the country^?" 

 Locusts however, as we have seen, take much longer 

 flights than this author supposes them able to do. It 

 is probable that their ability in this respect may depend 

 a good deal upon their species, their age, and the state 

 and direction of the wind ; for, as was the case with the 

 Egyptian plague, 



a pitchy cloud 



Of locusts warping on the eastern wind 



may by a powerful blast be carried over a broad river, 

 or even the sea, from one country to another. This 

 idea is strongly confirmed by an account, exhibiting in- 

 ternal marks of authenticity, which appeared in the 

 Alexandria Herald, an American newspaper; in which 

 it is stated, that at the distance of 200 miles from the 

 Canary Islands, the nearest land, the ship Georgia, 

 Capt. Stokes, from Lisbon to Savannah, while sailing 



"• Voyage to the Levant, 44 i. 



