The Fauna. 6g 



these creatures. So destructive were they to the 

 vef^etation, that the grass was completely eaten up 

 and destroyed, and tiocks of sheep had to be re- 

 moved from certain districts l^ecause of the absence 

 of food. In i8gi a similar visitation was experienced 

 in Selkirkshire and adjacent counties, notably Dum- 

 friesshire, Roxburghshire, and East Lothian. The 

 extent to which this modern plague was experienced, 

 because of their incalculable numbers and destructive 

 habits, may be imagined on perusing the following 

 well-authenticated testimon}' of shepherds and other 

 reliable persons upon the spot. " The vermin have," 

 says one informant, " multiplied greatly during the 

 summer, and they now swarm in numbers which 

 defy computation. To speak of them as in 

 thousands, gives no idea of them." Another says : 

 "It is impossible to speak too strongly about 

 the plague, and unless one was to go over the 

 ground, he could form no adequate conception 

 of it." On certain farms which he specifies, 

 this correspondent says, " they are simply legion." 

 Another writes: "Nobody ever saw anything the 



