MIGUATORIOUS LOCUST. 385 



flights in several parts of Europe, as in Germany, France and Eng- 

 land : and in this capital itself and its neighbourhood great numbers 

 were seen : they perished however in a short time, and were hap- 

 pily not productive of any material mischief, having been probably 

 driven by some irregular wind out of their intended course, and 

 weakened by the coolness of the climate. 



From a paper published in the 18th volume of the Philosophical 

 Transactions we find that in the year 1693, some swarms of this 

 species of locust settled in some parts of Wales. Two vast flights 

 were observed in the air not far from the town of Dol-galken in 

 Merionethshire ; the others fell in Pembrokeshire. From a letter 

 published in, the 38th volume of the same work it appears that some 

 parts of Germany, particularly in the March of Brandenburgh, &c. 

 suffered considerable injury from the depredations of these animals. 

 They made their appearance in the spring of the year 1732, from 

 flights which had deposited their eggs in the ground the precer^ng 

 year. They attacked and devoured the young spike of *ne wheat, 

 &c. and this chiefly by night, and thus laid waste many acres at a 

 time beyond all hope of recovery. In the 4&h volume of the same 

 Transactions, we find a description of the ravages of these animals 

 inWalachia, Moldavia, Transylvania, Hungary, and Poland, in the 

 years 1747 and J 748. 



* The first swarms entered into Transylvania in August, 1747 : 

 these were succeeded by others, which were so surprisingly nume- 

 rous, that when they reached the Red Tower, they were full four 

 hours in their passage over that place ; and they flew so close that 

 they made a sort of noise in the air by the beating of their wings 

 against one another. The width of the swarm was some hundreds 

 of fathoms, and its height or density may be easily imagined to be 

 more considerable, inasmuch as they hid the sun, and darkened the 

 sky, even to that degree, when they flew low, that people could not 

 know one another at the distance of twenty paces ; but, whereas 

 they were to fly over a river that runs in the vallies of the Red 

 Tower, and could find neither resting-place nor food ; being at 

 length tired with their flight, one part of them lighted on the unripe 

 corn on this side of the Red Tower, such as millet, Turkish wheat, 

 &c. ; another pitched on a low wood, where, having miserably wast- 

 ed the produce of the land, they continued their journey, as if a 

 signal had actually been given for a march. The guards of the 

 yol. v. 2 c 



