JERUSALEM'S LOCUST PLAGUE 



529 



after being cleaned the wall would again 

 become a living mass. 



It was the 28th of May when the 

 larvae, already passing into the pupa 

 stage, reached the quiet of Gethsemane, 

 now in its full summer bloom; but 

 scarcely had a day passed before every 

 tender thing was consumed, and even the 

 leaves of the woody cypress and of the 

 olive trees, the latter about 1,000 years 

 old, were threatened. "The land is as the 

 garden of Eden before them, and behind 

 them a desolate wilderness ; yea, and 

 nothing shall escape them" (Joel 2:3). 



But now, after passing up this narrow 

 defile between the city and Olivet, and to 

 the west of the city, making through the 

 more sparsely built new Jerusalem, they 

 at last reached the northern suburbs ; so 

 that the entire town, with the exception, 

 as before noted, of the portion within the 

 walls, fell a prey to their ravages. We 

 shall now try to depict what was here 

 seen and befell the entire land from 

 "Dan to Beer-sheba"* (see map, p. 542). 



VINES AND FIG TREES FIRST ATTACKED 



Fortunately by the time these young 

 broods had hatched the grain crops were 

 too far advanced to be much hurt. The 

 reaper had already thrust in his sickle. 

 But alas for the fruits and summer 

 crops ! 



The native vineyards and orchards are 

 always planted here in perfect confusion. 

 Between the vines one finds figs, olives, 

 pomegranates, quinces, and other trees. 

 These were the places at which the lo- 

 custs naturally halted, for the rapidity of 

 their marches and the frequency of their 

 stops seemed to be regulated by the 

 amount of forage encountered. 



Once entering a "vineyard," the sprawl- 

 ing vines would in the shortest time be 

 nothing but bare bark, the long dark 

 stems lying flat on the ground, much re- 

 sembling snakes (see page 520). Fig 

 leaves perhaps of all things best suited 

 their taste, and when once a tree fell a 

 prey to them the ground about would be 

 literally layers deep, and the trunk so 

 covered with crawlers as to make it a 

 bright yellow color. On every leaf dozens 



*An expression taking in all of the land once 

 belonging to the Hebrews (1 Kings 4:25). 



would be perched (see page 523). They 

 first ate away the tender parts, leaving a 

 perfect skeleton of the large broad leaves. 

 But soon these, too, were devoured, and 

 usually after one day's work the tree 

 stood naked of any leaves, with nothing 

 but the hard unripe fruit protruding 

 stiffly from the branches (see page 525). 



When the daintier morsels were gone 

 the bark was eaten off the young topmost 

 branches, which, after exposure to the 

 sun, bleached snow-white. Then, seem- 

 ingly out of malice, they would gnaw off 

 small limbs, perhaps to get at the pith 

 within. The effect thus caused was a 

 weird one, resembling white candles on a 

 dried-up Christmas tree (see illustration 

 on page 526). 



"He hath laid my vine waste, and 

 barked my fig tree : he hath made it clean 

 bare, and cast it away ;* the branches 

 thereof are made white" (Joel 1:7).. 



In the same manner all fruit and many 

 shade trees were deprived of all that 

 made them attractive and useful. The 

 quinces (probably the "apple" of the 

 Bible) were stripped of leaves, and, like 

 the figs, the fruit was left on to wither, 

 harden, and fall off, while the pitted 

 fruits, like the apricots, had the meat of 

 the fruit consumed and the seed left still 

 adhering mockingly to the tree ; so that, 

 in but a few days, Jerusalem, although 

 never too verdant in summer, presented 

 a sad and desolate aspect. But worse 

 was yet to come. 



FRUIT AND VEGETABLE MARKETS EMPTY 



The vegetable and fruit seasons were 

 just setting in as the young brood was 

 hatching. Even to one looking over the 

 local desolation the vastness of the de- 

 struction could not be realized. One day 

 David's Street markets were full of fresh 

 vegetables at the usual low prices. The 

 commoner apricots from Ramlehf made 

 their first appearance that day and were 

 not seen again. The better ones from 

 near Bethlehem likewise only on that day 

 made their appearance, and it was not 



* "And cast it away," no doubt referring to 

 the clipping off the twigs. 



t The second station on the railroad up from 

 Jaffa, supposed to be the home of Joseph of 

 Arimathaea, who claimed Jesus' bod}* and laid 

 it in his new tomb. 



