134 BEELZEBUB OR THE GOD OF FLIES. 



Nevertheless most of us have heard of "Beelzebub," 

 the " father of evil," and curiously enough, on coming to 

 look into the probable origin of this unpleasant gentleman, 

 we find that he is no other than " The God of Flies "- 

 ("Baal," the well-known idol, and " Zebub" Fly, in 

 the Chaldean tongue) as such he was worshipped 

 at a very early period in some parts of the East ; when 

 we say " worshipped " we mean, in the sense in which 

 "the bad god" of many savage races comes to be 

 invoked, when it is conceived necessary to placate 

 him in order to remove some grievous scourge from 

 the land. We merely however refer to this circum- 

 stance now in order to give some idea of the wide- 

 spread and serious nature of the evil which flies are 

 capable of inflicting in various parts of the world, 

 concerning which many curious historical facts can be 

 related. 



Fortunately for the sportsman, the best of the wild- 

 fowl shooting of which we have spoken, both in spring 

 and autumn, comes on either too early or too late for 

 the fly. The fly season, when insect pests become 

 really troublesome, may be said to correspond with 

 the appearance and fall of the leaf, and is at its worst 

 during the period when grasses, reeds, ferns, etc., are 

 growing rapidly. At this period of the year the woods 

 are so dense, that the hunter can see but a very short 

 distance in any direction. Sport is in consequence bad. 



We shall now ask the reader to accompany us in spirit 

 to the Pacific coast of North America, where we shall 

 be able to introduce him to the beau ideal of American 

 forest scenery, and to what, there can be no doubt, 

 are incomparably the finest primeval forests on earth- 



