392 Locusts in India. 



parturc, but eoiulnucd to hover about the place for a inontb'af- 

 terwards. 



On the ISthof July, while riding in that direction, I discovered 

 a tremendous swarm of very small dark-coloured insects in the 

 vicinity of a large pool of stagnate water; they were collected 

 in heaps, and covered the ground to a considerable distance. 

 These, on minute inspection, proved to be locusts in miniature, 

 but without wings, in this place they remained, hourly increasing 

 in numbers, for some days, when the great body moved off, taking 

 a direction towards the town of Etawah : they crept and hopped 

 along at a slow rate, until they reached the town, where they 

 divided into different bodies, still however keeping nearly the 

 same direction, covering and destroving everything green in 

 their progress, and distributing themselves all over the neigh- 

 bourhood. The devastation daily committed by them being al- 

 most incalculable, the farmers were under the necessity of col- 

 lecting as many people as they could, in the vain hojie that they 

 iqight preserve the crop by sweeping the swarm backwards; but 

 as often as they succeeded in repelling them in one quarter, they 

 approached in another : fires were then lighted all round the 

 fields with the same view: — this had the effect of keeping them 

 off for a short time; but sufficient fuel could not be supplied, and 

 the moment the fires became extinguished, the insects rushed in 

 like a torrent. Multitudes were destroyed by the birds, and 

 many more by branches of trees used by the farmers for that 

 purpose, as w^ell as by their being swept into large heaps, and 

 consumed by fire; yet their numbers seemed nothing diminished. 

 They so completely covered some mangoe trees, and the hedges 

 surrounding the gardens, that the colour of the leaves could not 

 ie distinguished. They had no wings, and were about the size 

 of small bees. They continued to creep along the ground, or 

 hopped when their progress was interrupted. 



July 27. — They were increasing in size, and had overspread 

 that part of the country in every direction. From the want of 

 rain, and the overwhelming inroad of these insects, the farmers 

 were nearly ruined. Nothing impeded their progress; they climbed ' 

 up the highest trees and scrambled over walls; and notwith- 

 standing the exertions of several people with brooms, the ve- 

 randah and outer walls of the hospital were completely covered 

 with them. They no longer continued to move in one particular 

 direction, but paraded backwards and forwards, wherever they 

 could find food. 



On the 2Sth of July the rains set in with consideiable vio-r 

 Icnce ; tlie locusts took shelter on trees and bushes, devouring 

 every Ipaf within their reach ', none seemed %o suffer from the 

 rain, 



Ou 



