JERUSALEM'S LOCUST PLAGUE 



513 



and in 1904 in the southern desert, also 

 visiting Egypt. 



The present influx covered all of Pal- 

 estine and Syria — that is. from the bor- 

 ders of Egypt to the Taurus Mountains. 



ADULT FLIERS FIRST APPEAR 



It was one of the last days of Febru- 

 ary, 191 5, that Air. Lewis Larson, to 

 whose skill and energy we are indebted 

 for the superb collection of locust pictures 

 appearing on these pages, returned from 

 the picturesque Ain Fara gorge, which 

 borders on the Wilderness of Judea and 

 is only a few miles east of Jerusalem, 

 with word that swarms of locusts had 

 flown overhead in such thick clouds as to 

 obscure the sun for the time being. 



However, before they were seen, a 

 loud noise, produced by the napping of 

 myriads of locust wings, was heard, de- 

 scribed as resembling the distant rumble 

 of waves, or, as St. John has it, "the 

 sound of their wings was as the sound of 

 chariots of many horses running into 

 battle'' (Rev. 9:9),* the picture on page 

 512 vividly portraying Joel's word picture 



"A da}* of cloud and thick darkness. 

 As dusk spread over the mountains — 

 A people many and bold"' (Joel 2:2)* 



Immediately rumors poured in from 

 the Christian towns of Es Salt, on the up- 

 lands east of the Jordan, and Bethlehem, 

 that similar swarms had also visited them, 

 causing much destruction. 



In Jerusalem the first were seen one 

 Monday of the first days of March, at 

 noon. Attention was drawn to them by 

 the sudden darkening of the bright sun- 

 shine, and then by a veritable shower of 

 their excretions, which fell thick and fast 

 and resembled those of mice, especially 

 noticeable on the white macadam roads. 

 At times their elevation was in the hun- 

 dreds of feet ; at other times they came 

 down quite low, detached members alight- 

 ing. The clouds of them would be so 

 dense as to appear quite black, with the 

 edges vignetted till they thinned down 

 and faded away into the clear blue sky 

 around. 



For several days Jerusalem was thus 

 visited. Predictions were rampant as to 



* The Emphasised Bible, Rotherham. 



the terrible results which would accrue, 

 but now we can see that not even the 

 worst pictured the actual ravages as 

 severe as we now see them. They did 

 not settle in Jerusalem, evidently seeking 

 greener and less populated districts; so 

 that after the first few days nothing more 

 was seen of these adults here, while at 

 Bethlehem they were brought to the earth 

 by heavy showers of the late rains. 



Quantities were now gathered by the 

 poorer Bethlehemites. A few ate them 

 roasted, describing the taste as delicious, 

 especially the females full of eggs. Still 

 the main reason for collecting them was 

 in order to secure the small bonus offered 

 by the local government of Bethlehem. 

 Thus tons were destroyed, being buried 

 alive till several ancient abandoned cis- 

 terns were filled, while in surrounding 

 villages each family was required to pro- 

 duce a stipulated weight. Likewise in 

 Jaffa they were destroyed by being 

 thrown into the Mediterranean and, when 

 washed ashore dead and dried on the 

 beach, were collected and used as fuel in 

 the public "Turkish baths" and ovens. 



FROM WKEXCE COME THE LOCUSTS? 



These clouds of flying locusts, in Jeru- 

 salem at least, invariably came from the 

 northeast going toward the southwest, 

 and it was observed that when strong 

 winds arose, too stiff for them to resist, 

 rather than be carried they seemed to 

 settle till the storm passed over. 



Students of Joel, who assert that the 

 first two chapters up to the 28th verse 

 picture an actual invasion of locusts and 

 not Judah's human enemies, as the As- 

 syrians and Chaldeans, find a difficulty 

 in the verse, "And the northerner will I 

 remove far from you," since locusts were 

 reported to invade Palestine from the 

 south : the present experience not onlv 

 removes this difficulty but establishes the 

 accuracy of Joel's account.* 



As to the exact region from which 

 they migrated to visit Palestine, it is now 

 difficult to say, especially in view of the 

 disorganization of mails and news chan- 

 nels caused by the present cruel Euro- 

 pean war. 



* Cambridge Bible, Driver, Joel, and Amos, 

 page 28. 



