JERUSALEM'S LOCUST PLAGUE 



521 



the sterile and rocky mountains, whether 

 it be damp grounds or those absolutely 

 parched and dry, there seemed to be little 

 difference. 



While going to the Samaritan Pass- 

 over we* observed in the valleys we 

 passed between Bethel and Mount Geri- 

 zim swarms of the adult locusts flying 

 about. At Zahtara the entire mountain 

 side, a rocky slope facing south, with 

 sparse wheat patches between the boul- 

 ders, was simply covered with locusts 

 preparatory to laying eggs. On the 

 homeward trip the next day they were 

 still there, and while climbing a short-cut 

 on foot we each trod to death several 

 hundreds, so thick were they. Five days 

 later, returning for the ceremony on the 

 last day of the Passover, not a trace of 

 one was to be found. 



COLLECTING THE LOCUST EGGS 



Once the alarming extent to which 

 these eggs were laid was realized, the 

 authorities issued a proclamation, dated 

 April 19, requiring each male person 

 from 16 years to 60 to gather eleven 

 pounds of the eggs. 



To be among the first to set a good 

 example, the young men of the American 

 colony at once began the work of collect- 

 ing; for so steeped are the natives in 

 fatalism (Allah has sent the "jarad" and 

 they are helpless to fight them) that, 

 unless forced or shown how to, few 

 would turn a finger over in self-defense. 

 The fields chosen for our work were 

 those last mentioned about "Gabah" 

 (Gibeah), now a poor village, possibly 

 the very Gibeah whose inhabitants were 

 once the cause of the first Israelitish civil 

 war, in which the tribe of Benjamin all 

 but perished (Judges 20). 



As we started out, loaded with small 

 knapsacks of food and blankets, and 

 armed with small picks, the clouds gath- 

 ered and the winds blew. It was so late 

 in the year that hard rains had not been 

 anticipated ; but when the party got to 

 Ain Farah, where headquarters were to 

 be established with "Abid el Waleh," a 



* The party mentioned were the three re- 

 sponsible for the present article— Air. Lewis 

 Larson, photographer ; Mr. Lars Lind, and the 

 author. 



character few who have been to Ain Fa- 

 rah do not know, sleeping outdoors had 

 to be abandoned because of the downpour. 



Seemingly the only alternative was to 

 accept the host's hospitality in his sheep- 

 fold, a large natural cave with but a 

 small opening, of which the precipitous 

 cliffs here are full. Such were the 

 "sheep-cotes," by the way, at Engedi, in 

 which the pursuing King Saul lay asleep 

 at the mercy of his fugitive David, who 

 even now refrained from killing his life- 

 long enemy, but, instead, only "cut off the 

 skirt of Saul's robe" (1 Samuel 24). 



But not relishing the enjoyment of 

 passing the night in a flea-infested cave, 

 the like of which kings in the past had 

 not despised, Yankee ingenuity construct- 

 ed instead a small roof out of a few 

 sheets of corrugated iron, which were 

 Abid el Waleh's share of booty from a 

 recent pillage, and although the rain beat 

 down relentlessly, it afforded some little 

 protection. After two such nights and 

 rainy days the party returned home with 

 but a handful of eggs ; but, better still, 

 with fields for future egg hunting well 

 located. 



The storm once over, a little tent af- 

 forded protection for the second cam- 

 paign. Most of the locust eggs we dis- 

 covered were in uncultivated fields of 

 the hardest dark-red soil, covered with a 

 thin sod. A small patch would be found 

 only a few meters in extent literally 

 honeycombed and filled with the eggs ; 

 then for a space no more would be found 

 till a new spot was located. A warm, 

 sunny place with a southern exposure 

 seemed to be the rule. 



It is estimated by competent authori- 

 ties that as many as 65,000 to 75,000 

 locust eggs are concentrated in a square 

 meter of soil, and allowing for a loss of 

 30 per cent in hatching, some 60,000 de- 

 stroyers can emerge from a space 39 

 inches square (see also page 516). 



NATURAL ENEMIES OF LOCUSTS 



Locusts are not, however, without their 

 own enemies provided by nature. Large 

 flocks of storks flew past Jerusalem dur- 

 ing the early days when the adults ar- 

 rived and after the larvae were hatched, 

 consuming abnormal quantities, for which 



