1C2 History vf Nature. [BOOK VI. 



the Confines of Mauritania. In certain parts of Ethiopia 

 the People live on Locusts only, 1 which they preserve with 

 Salt, and hang up in Smoke to harden, for their yearly Pro- 

 vision ; and these live not above Forty Years at the most. 

 Agrippa saith that all the Land of Ethiopia, with the Red 

 Sea, containeth in Length 2170 Miles: and in Breadth, 

 together with the higher Egypt, 1291. Some have taken 

 the Breadth in this manner; from Meroe to Sirbitum, 

 Twelve Days' Navigation ; from thence to the Davelli, Twelve ; 

 and from them to the Ethiopian Ocean, a Journey of Six 

 Days. But on the whole all Writers in a manner agree 

 that between the Ocean and Meroe it is 725 Miles ; and 

 from thence to Syene, as much as we have set down before. 

 The Situation of Ethiopia lieth South-east and South-west. 

 In the exact South, Woods of Ebony chiefly flourish ; toward 

 the midst of this Region, there is a lofty Mountain looking 

 over the Sea, that burneth continually, which the Greeks 

 call Theon-ochema ; from which it is counted Four Days' Sail 

 to the Promontory called Hesperion-Ceras, 2 on the border of 

 Africa, near to the Hesperian Ethiopians. Some Writers 

 hold, that this Tract is beautified with little Hills, pleasantly 

 clad with shady Groves, wherein are the jEgipanes and 

 Satyri. 



1 That locusts should form a portion of the food of the people who 

 live where they abound, cannot be regarded as surprising. John 

 the Baptist fed on them, Matt, iii, 4, and Mark, i. 6. They are still 

 occasionally used for food in the East. When Khosru Purwis (Chosroes), 

 the Sassanian king of Persia, was summoned by Mohammed to adopt his 

 doctrine, he contemptuously dismissed the messengers of a chief of "naked 

 locust-eaters." The Arabs eat the different species of the migratory 

 locusts, and are very fond of them, especially of the red locust, which 

 when fat is called Jerdd rnikken. They eat them either fried or broiled, 

 or dried in an oven, or boiled with a sprinkle of salt ; the locusts taste 

 like dried sprats. The female locust when fat and full of eggs, is a great 

 dainty, and greatly esteemed by the male population on account of its 

 aphrodisiac qualities. (Niebuhr, Beschreibung von Arabien, p. 170, &c.) 

 ~-Wern. Club. 



8 Cap de Bonne Esperance. 



