Uo, 2. ] The Locust Invasion of 1889—92. 83 



In the cold weather of 1890-91 numbers of the winged locusts which 

 swarmed into the Rawalpindi district were killed in the early mornings^ 

 when they were numb with cold, by the people; and as the spring' of 

 1891 advanced, a regular campaign was organized throughout the Punjab 

 by the district officials for the destruction of the young locusts. 



In Dera Ismail Khan, a naib-tahsildar and kanungo, with six or 

 seven. chaprasis unler them, were put in charge of each tappa, and lam- 

 bardars and zaildars were warned to render every assistance in their 

 power. Five hundred rupees were spent in rewards. The wells and 

 water-courses were kept clean to avert epidemic disease, but the people 

 were very apathetic, and little impression was made on the vast swarms 

 which crowded into the district. 



In Rawalpindi, the district was divided into circles with an officer in 

 charge of each whose main duty it was to look after the destruction of 

 the locusts and their eggs. All tahsil officials were employed in the 

 work of destruction, :md a thousand rupees were spent from district funds. 

 Millions of eggs and young locusts were destroyed, but the impression 

 made was small, as the insects laid their e (r <rs larsrely in the extensive 

 and sparsely peopled Kala Chitta Kange, where it was most difficult to 

 get at them. 



In Hazara some four hundred maunds of young locusts were de- 

 stroyed in April in the Mansahra Tahsil under the direction of the tah- 

 sildar. 



In Peshawar the villagers were turned out at once whenever young 

 locusts showed themselves, and by the 20th April some ten thousand 

 people were at work. When the rabi harvest began the villagers were 

 dismissed, and five thousand hired labourers were employed until about 

 the 3rd of May, when the barley was half reaped and the ears of wheat 

 were tco hard to le attacked by the young locusts. At a low estimate, 

 over eighty millions of young locusts were destroyed, the cost being about 

 eight thousand rupees. 'The myriads of locusts, however, which poured 

 into the district from indep nd nt territory made it impossible to deal at 

 all completely with the invasion. 



In Kohat orders were issued to turn out the people when the locusts 

 hatched, and the greatest exertions were made to deal with the pest. In 

 the Kohat station itself, Captain Parsons wrote that the chief invasion 

 lasted about ten days. During this time vast numbers of locusts were de- 

 stroyed each day, the quantity a mo mting on one occasion to sis: hundred 

 maunds. One rupee was paid for each m-iund weighed. Nearly all the 

 undetained inhabitants of the city laboured, and the troops and the boys 

 of the large High School assisted. The collection of the insects was very- 

 simple, as they could be shaken off th^ trees by thousands into sheets held 

 below. Four men could collect a maimd in a very short time. There 



