278 THE GREAT NORTH-WEST 



to have them killed, and the wings and legs shaken off 

 before feeding on them. Later in the summer the 

 younger members of my host's family used to gather 

 a peck or two for the ducks. These were mostly of 

 the larger sort, which represent a very respectable 

 beakful for a duck. The bodies are round, plump, 

 more than two inches long, and of a dirty-brownish 

 buff colour, greatly resembling those of the locusts of 

 the south of Europe. 



When such a plague as that I have described comes 

 upon the farmers, they are compelled to adopt some 

 means to diminish its evil effects, or they would be 

 ruined. The only effectual defence is to destroy as 

 many of the grasshoppers as possible. The commonest 

 way of effecting this is to dig a long and pretty deep 

 trench. A quantity of dried grass and rough herbage is 

 placed along the outer edge of the trench, and the farm 

 hands are then turned out, great and small, master and 

 man alike, and drawn up in a line, as close together as 

 their numbers will admit of. They start on the side of 

 the meadow farthest from the trench, and advance to- 

 wards it slowly, gently sweeping the grass with leafy 

 boughs of trees. This drives the grasshoppers towards 

 the trench, into which they fall by thousands. The 

 dried grass, brush, &c., is then quickly thrown into the 

 trench on top of them, and set fire to. In this way vast 

 numbers are destroyed. 



The meadow is then left at rest for a day, and after- 

 wards passed over a second, and perhaps a third time, 

 which generally destroys the greater part of the grass- 

 hoppers. In moving across the field, and in making the 

 sweeping motions with the tree-branches, the quieter the 

 men go to work the better, so that the grasshoppers may 

 be induced to keep in front of the line ; for the insects 

 never leap in a direct line, but always at an angle to the 

 last leap. That is, their course is a sort of zig-zag one ; 

 and if they are too much frightened they will leap 



