LOCUSTS. 



63 



the crops, as it has done for the last three 

 years, at the Settlement. These insects mul- 

 tiply so rapidly, that they soon overspread the 

 land, or rather the whole country; and had 

 not a wise Providence limited their existence 

 to a year, they would no doubt (if permitted 

 to increase) soon destroy the whole vegetative 

 produce of the world. They seem to devour, 

 not so much from a ravenous appetite, as from 

 the rage of destroying every vegetable sub- 

 stance that lies in the way ; and their work 

 of destruction is frequently so regular in a 

 field of corn, as to have the appearance of 

 being cut with a scythe. Where they are 

 bred, from eggs that are deposited in the earth 

 the autumn before, they stop during the 

 months of April, May, and June ; towards the 

 latter end of July, they get strong, and have 

 wings, when they rise together, sometimes so 

 numerous as to form a black cloud, which 

 darkens the rays of the sun. Their first direc- 

 tion is against the wind, but afterwards they 

 appear to be driven by its course, and fall, 

 as a scourge, as they become exhausted by 

 flight. " The land may be as the garden of 

 Eden before them, but behind them it is a de- 

 solate wilderness ." 



