﻿LOCUSTS 
  IX 
  AFRICA. 
  51 
  

  

  he 
  does 
  not 
  believe 
  the 
  swarms 
  arise 
  at 
  once 
  en 
  masse 
  (as 
  though 
  by 
  a 
  

   preconcerted 
  signal), 
  but, 
  inhabiting 
  this 
  whole 
  country, 
  the 
  isolated 
  

   individuals 
  join 
  the 
  group 
  as 
  it 
  passes, 
  thus 
  augmenting 
  it 
  as 
  it 
  pro- 
  

   ceeds 
  ; 
  hence, 
  the 
  longer 
  the 
  distances 
  and 
  the 
  more 
  the 
  wind 
  favors, 
  

   the 
  larger 
  will 
  be 
  the 
  swarm. 
  He 
  says 
  they 
  generally 
  come 
  into 
  the 
  

   French 
  possessions 
  of 
  North 
  Africa 
  under 
  the 
  influence 
  of 
  a 
  hot 
  wind 
  

   from 
  the 
  south, 
  known 
  in 
  Algiers 
  as 
  the 
  sirocco. 
  This 
  wind 
  attains 
  in 
  

   Algiers 
  a 
  temperature 
  of 
  51° 
  (cent.), 
  as 
  he 
  has 
  ascertained 
  by 
  observa- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  many 
  days 
  in 
  succession. 
  

  

  The 
  three 
  chief 
  invasions 
  of 
  this 
  section 
  were 
  in 
  1845, 
  1864, 
  and 
  1866. 
  

  

  Bolivar's 
  statements 
  in 
  reference 
  to 
  this 
  species 
  will 
  be 
  introduced 
  

   hereafter, 
  when 
  we 
  come 
  to 
  consider 
  the 
  question 
  of 
  passage 
  across 
  the 
  

   Mediterranean 
  Sea 
  from 
  Africa 
  to 
  Europe. 
  

  

  Eev. 
  Samuel 
  Gobat 
  m 
  makes 
  the 
  following 
  statement 
  in 
  reference 
  to 
  

   an 
  invasion 
  he 
  witnessed 
  near 
  Axuni, 
  in 
  Abyssinia, 
  in 
  June, 
  1831 
  : 
  

  

  The 
  air 
  was 
  teeming 
  with 
  locusts, 
  by 
  which 
  the 
  light 
  of 
  the 
  sun 
  was 
  already 
  greatly 
  

   obscured. 
  But 
  this 
  was 
  only 
  the 
  advanced 
  guard. 
  On 
  looking 
  toward 
  the 
  north 
  I 
  

   perceived, 
  about 
  a 
  league 
  distant, 
  several 
  faint 
  clouds, 
  as 
  it 
  were, 
  rising 
  from 
  th© 
  

   earth, 
  which 
  I 
  at 
  once 
  took 
  for 
  locusts, 
  having 
  before 
  seen 
  this 
  appearance 
  of 
  them 
  

   near 
  Caua 
  of 
  Galilee. 
  Afterward 
  this 
  mist 
  became 
  so 
  thick 
  that 
  it 
  entirely 
  hid 
  the 
  sky 
  

   and 
  neighboring 
  mountains 
  from 
  our 
  view, 
  and 
  the 
  people 
  of 
  the 
  country, 
  though 
  ac- 
  

   customed 
  to 
  seeing 
  locusts, 
  no 
  longer 
  believed 
  these 
  wonders 
  to 
  be 
  occasioned 
  by 
  them; 
  

   but 
  the 
  locusts 
  soon 
  arrived 
  to 
  convince 
  us 
  of 
  the 
  fact. 
  The 
  air 
  was 
  so 
  darkened 
  that 
  

   we 
  could 
  scarcely 
  discern 
  the 
  place 
  of 
  the 
  sun 
  ; 
  and 
  the 
  earth 
  was 
  so 
  completely 
  cov- 
  

   ered 
  with 
  these 
  insects 
  that 
  we 
  could 
  see 
  nothing 
  else. 
  Children 
  running 
  about 
  the 
  

   fields, 
  at 
  only 
  a 
  stone's 
  throw, 
  could 
  scarcely 
  be 
  seen 
  through 
  the 
  multitudes 
  of 
  locusts 
  

   surrounding 
  them. 
  Every 
  year 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  greater 
  or 
  less 
  descent 
  of 
  locusts 
  in 
  Tigre, 
  

   but 
  they 
  are 
  much 
  more 
  numerous 
  this 
  year 
  than 
  usual. 
  

  

  He 
  states 
  that 
  they 
  are 
  rarely 
  found 
  "beyond" 
  (southwest 
  of) 
  theTa- 
  

   cazza 
  Eiver. 
  

  

  Henry 
  Salt 
  123 
  says 
  that 
  during 
  his 
  stay 
  in 
  the 
  bay 
  of 
  Amphila 
  a 
  large 
  

   flight 
  of 
  these 
  insects 
  came 
  over 
  to 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  islands 
  and 
  in 
  a 
  few 
  days 
  

   destroyed 
  nearly 
  half 
  of 
  the 
  vegetation. 
  He 
  describes, 
  as 
  before 
  stated, 
  

   a 
  species 
  seen 
  at 
  Bombay, 
  which 
  he 
  asserts 
  was 
  the 
  same 
  as 
  seen 
  here. 
  

   James 
  Hamilton 
  121 
  mentions 
  passing 
  through 
  a 
  swarm 
  in 
  the 
  latter 
  part 
  

   of 
  April, 
  1854, 
  on 
  the 
  Bahat, 
  a 
  branch 
  of 
  the 
  Blue 
  Xile, 
  about 
  N. 
  lat. 
  14° 
  

   10', 
  E. 
  long. 
  34o 
  10'. 
  

  

  Barth, 
  in 
  his 
  Central 
  Africa 
  125 
  , 
  remarks 
  as 
  follows: 
  "I 
  was 
  here 
  not 
  

   a 
  little 
  surprised 
  at 
  the 
  swarms 
  of 
  locusts 
  which 
  the 
  wind 
  drove 
  into 
  our 
  

   faces 
  and 
  which 
  certainly 
  indicated 
  our 
  approach 
  to 
  more 
  fertile 
  re- 
  

   gions.' 
  7 
  It 
  was 
  July, 
  1854, 
  and 
  he 
  was 
  then 
  on 
  the 
  Niger 
  about 
  Gaben, 
  

   N. 
  lat. 
  16°, 
  30', 
  E. 
  long. 
  0° 
  20', 
  going 
  south 
  a 
  little 
  east. 
  The 
  southern 
  

   limit 
  of 
  the 
  desert 
  he 
  places 
  at 
  the 
  latitude 
  of 
  Gao 
  (or 
  Gogo), 
  X. 
  lat. 
  17°. 
  

  

  The 
  oft- 
  quoted 
  description 
  of 
  locust 
  flights 
  by 
  Adanson 
  126 
  relates 
  to 
  

  

  152 
  "Journals 
  of 
  a 
  Residence 
  in 
  Abyssinia," 
  p. 
  392. 
  

  

  m 
  " 
  Voyage 
  to 
  Abyssinia 
  in 
  1809 
  and 
  1810," 
  p. 
  172. 
  

  

  124 
  " 
  Sinai, 
  the 
  Hadjaz, 
  and 
  Soudan," 
  p. 
  297. 
  

  

  ^London 
  Edition, 
  V, 
  p. 
  242. 
  

  

  m 
  "A 
  Voyage 
  to 
  Senegal." 
  The 
  isle 
  of 
  Goree, 
  and 
  the 
  river 
  Gambia. 
  EngL 
  transl., 
  p. 
  159. 
  

  

  