LETTERS ON ENTOMOLOGY. 13 
in India saw the immense army of locusts, which 
ravaged the Mahratta country. The column ex- 
tended near five hundred miles, and darkened 
the sun so much that no shadow was cast by any 
object. This was a red species, which made it 
still more horrible; for after they had stripped 
the trees, they clustered upon them, giving to 
every thing a sanguine hue. 
Of the noise they make, and their terrific ap- 
pearance, the prophet Joel has given a correct 
and sublime description : " A day of darkness 
and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick 
darkness, as the morning spread upon the moun- 
tains : a great people and a strong : there hath 
not been even the like, neither shall be any more 
after it, even to the years of many generations. 
A fire devoureth before them, and behind them 
a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of 
Eden before them, and behind them is a desolate 
wilderness ; yea, and nothing shall escape them. 
Like the noise of chariots on the tops of moun- 
tains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of 
fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong peo- 
ple set in battle array. Before their faces the 
people shall be much pained: all faces shall 
gather blackness. They shall run like mighty 
men; they shall climb the wall like men of 
