G R Y 
c-rufh them with their broom’and flakes, and bury them 
by throwing in the earth again. But when they have 
begun to fly, there fhould be horfemen upon the watch 
in the fields, who, upon any appearance of the fwarm 
taking wing, fhould immediately alarm the neighbour¬ 
hood by a certain fignal, that they might come and 
fright them from their lands by'all forts of noife; and 
if, tired with flying, they happen to pitch on a wade 
piece of land, it will be very eafy to kill them with 
flicks and brooms in the evening or early in the morn¬ 
ing, while they are wet with the dew ; or any time of 
the day in rainy weather, for then they are not able to 
fly. I have already taken notice that, if the weather 
be cold or wet in autumn, they generally hide tliem- 
felves in fecret places, where they lay their eggs, and 
then die: therefore great care fhould be taken at this 
time, when the ground is freed of its crop, to deflroy 
them before they lay their eggs. In this month of Sep¬ 
tember, 1748, we received certain intelligence that fe- 
veral fwarms of locufts came out of Wallachia into 
Tranfylvanja through the ufual inlets, and took poffef- 
fion of a trail of land in the neighbourhood of Clauf- 
berry, nearly three miles in length, where it was not 
poflible to fave the millet and Turkilh wheat from thefe 
devourers. I am of opinion, that no inftunce of this 
kind will occur in our hiftory, except what fome old 
men remember, and what we have experienced ; at leafl 
there is no account that any locufts came hither which 
did not die before they laid their eggs: however this is 
a known fail; that about forty years ago, fome fwarms. 
came hither out of Wallachia, and did vaft damage 
wherever.they fettled, but either left this country be¬ 
fore the end of firmmer, or died by the inclemency of 
the weather.” 
As an appendix to the foregoing account, it is added 
by a correfpondent from Vienna, that “ a confiderable 
number of locufts had alfo come within twenty leagues 
of that city, and that one column of them had been feen 
there, which was about half an hour’s journey in breadth; 
but of fuch a length that, after three hours, though 
they feemed to fly fall, one could not fee the end of the 
column.” 
In 1754, 5, 6, and 7, great devaftations were commit¬ 
ted in Spain by a fpecies of locufts, of which we have 
the following delcription by don Guillermo Bowles, 
publifhed in Dillon’s Travels through that country. 
“The locufts are continually feen in the fouthern parts 
of Spain, particularly in the paftures and remote uncul¬ 
tivated diltrills of Eftramadura, but in general are not 
taken notice of, if not very numerous, as they commonly 
feed upon wild herbs, without preying upon gardens and 
cultivated lands, or making their way into lioufes. The 
peafants-Jeok at them with indifference while they are 
iriiking about in the field, neglecting any meafure to 
deftroy them till the danger is immediate, and the fa¬ 
vourable moment to remedy the evil is elapfed., Their 
yearly number is not very confiderable, as the males are 
far more numerous; than the females. If an equal pro¬ 
portion were allowed only for ten years, their numbers 
would be fo great as to deftroy the whole vegetative 
fyftem.. .Bealls and birds would ftarve for want of fub- 
iiitence, and even mankind would become a prey to their 
ravenous appetites. In 1754, their increale was fo great 
from the multitude of females, that all La Mancha and 
Portugal were covered with them and totally ravaged. 
The horrors of famine were ipread even - farther, and 
shaded the fruitful provinces of Andalufia, Murcia, and 
Valencia. 
jU The amours .of thefe crea-tures are objefts of furprife 
and.aftoniih.ment, and their union is fuch fhat it is diffh 
cult to feparate them. When this reparation is volun¬ 
tary, after having Lifted fome hours, they are fo exhauft- 
ed, that the male retires immediately to the water for 
refrelhenent, where, lofing the ufe of his limbs, he foon 
pefillies, and becomes an eafy prey to the ftih ; having 
L L U S. 55 
given life to his offspring at the expence of his own. 
The female, difembarraffed, though not without violent, 
ftruggles, fpends the remainder of her days in fonie fo-, 
litary place, bufy in forming a retreat under ground, 
where Ihe can fecure her eggs,-of which Ihe generally 
lays about forty, fcreening them by her fagacity from 
, the intemperature of the air, as well as the more im¬ 
mediate danger of the plough or the Ipade, one fatal 
blow of which would deftroy all the hopes of a rifihg 
generation. 
“ Thefe locufts feem to devour, not fo much from a 
ravenous appetite, as from a rage of deftroying every 
thing that comes in their way. It is not furprifihg that 
they fhould be fond of the mod juicy plants and fruits, 
fuch as melons, and all manner of garden fruits and herbs, 
and feed alfo upon aromatic plants, fuch as lavender, 
thyme, rofemary, &c. which are fo common in Spain, 
that they ferve to heat ovens : but it is very lingular, 
that they equally eat muftard-feed, onions, and garlic ; 
nay even hemlock, aqd the moll rank and poifonouS 
plants, fuch as the thorn-apple and deadly nightlhade. 
They will even prey upon crowfoot, whole caufticity 
burns the very hides of beads; and fuch is their uni- 
verfal tafte, that they do not prefer the innocent mallow 
to the bitter furze, or rue to wormwood, confuming all 
alike, without predilection or favour, with this remarks 
able circumftance, that during the four years they com¬ 
mitted fuch havoc in Eftramadura, the love-apple, or 
fycoperjiconfolanum of Linnaeus, was the only plant that 
efcaped their rapacious tooth, and claimed a refpeCl to 
its root, leaves, flowers, and fruit. Naturalifts may. 
fearch for their motives, which I am at a lofs to dif- 
cover; the more as I faw millions of them light on a 
field near Almaden, and devour the woollen and linen 
garments of the peafants, which were lying to dry on 
the ground. The curate of the village, a man of vera¬ 
city, at whofe houfe I was, affured me, that a tremend¬ 
ous body of tjhem entered the church, and devoured the. 
ftlk garments that adorned the images of the faints, not 
fparing even the varnilh on the altars. The better to 
difeover the nature of fuch a phenomenon, 1 examined 
the ftomach of the locuft, but only found one thin and 
loft membrane, with which, and the liquor it contains, 
it deftroys and dilfolves all kind of fubltances, equally 
with the moll cauftic and venomous plant's; extracting., 
from them a fufficient and falutary nourilhment. 
“ Out of curiofity to know the nature of fo formidable 
a creature, I was urged to examine all its parts with-the 
utmoft eXaCtriefs : its head is of thefizeofa pea, though 
longer, its forehead pointing downwards like the hand- 
fome Andalufian horfe, its mouth large and open, .its 
eyes black and rolling, added to a timid afpeCt not ui), 
like a hare. With fuch a daftardly countenance, ,who 
would imagine this creature to be the fcourge of man- 
kind! In its two jaws it has four incifive teeth, .whofe 
fliarp points traverfe each other like fciliars, their me- 
chanifiA being Inch as to gripe or to cut. Thus armed, 
what can refill a legion of fuch enemies ?. After devour¬ 
ing the vegetable kingdom, were they,.in proportion to 
their ftrength and numbers, to become.carnivorous like 
wafps, they would be able to deftroy whole {locks of 
Iheep, even to the dogs and flicpherd ; juft as we are 
told of ants in America, that will overcome the fierceft 
ferpents. 
“ The Loculi fpends the months of April, May, and 
June,_ in the place of its birth: at the end -of June its 
wings have a fine rofe-cofour, and its .body is ftrong. 
Being then in their prime, they affemble for the lall 
lime, and burn. w.ith.a define to propagate their fpecies : 
this is obferved by .their .motions, which are unequal in 
the two fexes. . The male.is reltlefs and folicitous, .the' 
female is coy, and eager afterfood, flying the approaches 
of the male,. fo that the morning is f'pent in the courtf 
Ihip of the one and. the retreat of the other. About ten 
o’clock, when the warmth .of the l'un has cleared their 
4 wings 
