186 NATURAL HISTORY. [CH. XII. 



anism being such as to gripe or cut. Thus armed, 

 what can resist a legion of such enemies 1 



"The locust spends the months of April, May, 

 and June, in the place of its birth. At the end of 

 June its wings have a fine rose colour, and its body 

 is strong. Being then in their prime, they assem- 

 ble for the last time about ten o'clock, when the 

 warmth of the sun has cleared their wings from 

 the dampness of the night ; the males and females 

 rise together five hundred feet high, forming a black 

 cloud that darkens" the rays of the sun ; the clear 

 atmosphere of Spain becomes gloomy, and the finest 

 summer's day of Estremadura more dismal than 

 the winter of Holland. The rustling of so many 

 millions of wings in the air seems like the trees 

 of a forest agitated by the wind. The first direc- 

 tion of this column is always against the wind ; 

 which, if not too strong, the column will extend 

 about a couple of leagues ; the locusts then make a 

 halt, when the most dreadful havoc begins. Their 

 sense of smell being so delicate, they can find at 

 that distance a cornfield or a garden, and, after de- 

 molishing it, rise again in search of another ; this 

 may be said to be done in an instant. Each seems 

 to have four arms and two feet. The males climb 

 up the plants as sailors do the shrouds of a ship, 

 and nip off the tenderest buds, which fall to the fe- 

 males below." 



Many old people assured Mr. Dillon, when so 

 much mischief was done in 1754, that it was the 

 third time in their remembrance, and that they are 

 always to be found in the pasture-grounds of Estre- 

 madura, whence they spread into the other prov- 

 inces of Spain. 



There exists several kinds, each of which in- 

 habits various portions of the earth. One of the 

 largest of this tribe measures four inches long, and 

 from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other 

 eight inches. This is salted, and sold in the Levant 



