LOCUSTS. 137 



As soon as the weather cleared a little, I accom- 

 panied one of Jacobs' sons on a shooting excursion, 

 and had the good fortune to obtain some very fine 

 specimens of the blue koraan. It is very abundant 

 in this district, to which it is principally confined. 

 The young man pointed out a spot where he had lately 

 shot a lioness, as he was returning with a party from a 

 commando, and had succeeded in taking three of her 

 cubs alive. During our halt at this place, I observed 

 the Hottentots feeding fowls with locusts out of a 

 large sack, and it was surprising to see with what avi- 

 dity they devoured them. I remarked that the game- 

 birds we shot in this part of the country had a strong 

 and disagreeable flavour, in consequence, as I sup- 

 posed, of feeding on these insects. The Bushmen, 

 however, are particularly partial to locusts. It is 

 said that in Morocco they are so highly esteemed, 

 that the price of provisions falls when the locusts have 

 entered the neighbourhood. " The Calmucks do not 

 make use of them for food, but the antelopes, sheep, 

 and other animals which have been fattened upon 

 them are much sought after. The wolves seldom or 

 never attack the flocks of the Calmucks when the 

 locusts are at hand, because they can satisfy them- 

 selves with these insects. A circumstance which 

 happened at Sarepta sufficiently proves that locusts 

 are excellent food : the hogs in that neighbourhood 

 became unusually fat by having fed for some time 

 entirely upon dead locusts, which had been drowned 

 in the Volga, and thrown in heaps upon the shore ." 



