166 LOCUST. 



of them, or even of diminishing their num- 

 bers, but to surround the piece of ground 

 with a multitude of people, who might 

 fright them away with bells, brass vessels, 

 and all other sorts of noise. But even this 

 method will not succeed, till the sun is pretty 

 high, so as to dry the corn from the dew ; 

 for otherwise they will either stick to the 

 stalks, or lie hid under the grass ; but when 

 they happen to be driven to a waste piece of 

 ground, they are to be beat with sticks or 

 briars ; and if they gather together in heaps, 

 straw or litter may be thrown over them, 

 and set on fire. Now this method seems 

 rather to lessen their numbers than totally 

 to destroy them ; for many of them lurk 

 under the grass, or thick corn, and in the 

 fissures of the ground from the sun's heat ; 

 wherefore it is requisite to repeat this opera- 

 tion several times, in order to diminish their 

 numbers, and consequently the damage done 

 by them. It will likewise be of use, where 

 a large troop of them has pitched, to dig a 

 long trench, of an ell width and depth, and 

 place several persons along its edges, pro- 

 vided with brooms and such like things, 



