Part 55 (1/2)

CHAPTER V

THE LOCUST-FLIGHT

The field-cornet slept but little Anxiety kept hiht of the locusts He napped at intervals, and drearasshoppers, and all lad when the first ray of light penetrated through the littleof his cha to dress himself, rushed out into the open air It was still dark, but he did not require to see the wind He did not need to toss a feather or hold up his hat The truth was too plain A strong breeze was blowing--it was blowing _from the west_!

Half distracted, he ran farther out to assure himself He ran until clear of the walls that enclosed the kraals and garden

He halted and felt the air Alas! his first impression was correct The breeze blew directly from the west--directly from the locusts He could perceive the effluviuer cause to doubt

Groaning in spirit, Von Bloo the terrible visitation

His first directions were to collect all the loose pieces of linen or clothing in the house, and pack them within the family chests What!

would the locusts be likely to eat them?

Indeed, yes--for these voracious creatures are not fastidious No particular vegetable seems to be chosen by them The leaves of the bitter tobacco plant appear to be asas the sweet and succulent blades of maize! Pieces of linen, cotton, and even flannel, are devoured by theh they were the tender shoots of plants Stones, iron, and hard wood, are about the only objects that escape their fierce masticators

Von Bloom had heard this, Hans had read of it, and Swartboy confir that was at all destructible was carefully stoay; and then breakfast was cooked and eaten in silence

There was a gloom over the faces of all, because he as the head of all was silent and dejected What a change within a few hours! But the evening before the field-cornet and his little family were in the full enjoyh a slight one Might it yet rain? Or ht the day turn out cold?

In either case Swartboy said the locusts could not take wing--for they cannot fly in cold or rainy weather In the event of a cold or wet day they would have to reain before they resuht Oh, for a torrent of rain, or a cold cloudy day!

Vain wish!+ vain hope! In half-an-hour after the sun rose up in African splendour, and his hot rays, slanting down upon the sleeping host, warmed them into life and activity They commenced to crawl, to hop about, and then, as if by one impulse, myriads rose into the air The breeze i,--in the direction of the devoted maize fields

In less than five , they were over the kraal, and dropping in tens of thousands upon the surrounding fields Sloas their flight, and gentle their descent, and to the eyes of those beneath they presented the appearance of a shower of _black_ snow, falling in large feathery flakes In a few round was completely covered, until every stalk of maize, every plant and bush, carried its hundreds On the outer plains too, as far as eye could see, the pasture was strewed thickly; and as the great flight had now passed to the eastward of the house, the sun's disk was again hidden by them as if by an eclipse!

They seemed to move in a kind of _echelon_, the bands in the rear constantly flying to the front, and then halting to feed, until in turn these were headed by others that had advanced over thes was not the least curious pheno the leaves of the forest, or the sound of a water-wheel

For two hours this passage continued During most of that time, Von Bloom and his people had remained within the house, with closed doors and s This they did to avoid the unpleasant shower, as the creatures impelled by the breeze, often strike the cheek so forcibly as to cause a feeling of pain Moreover, they did not like treading upon the unwelco them under their feet, which they round was thickly covered

Many of the insects even crawled inside, through the chinks of the door and s, and greedily devoured any vegetable substance which happened to be lying about the floor

At the end of two hours Von Blooht had passed The sun was again shi+ning; but upon as he shi+ning? No longer upon green fields and a flowery garden No Around the house, on every side, north, south, east, and west, the eye rested only on black desolation Not a blade of grass, not a leaf could be seen--even the very bark was stripped from the trees, that now stood as if withered by the hand of God! Had fire swept the surface, it could not have left it arden, there were no fields of er a farm--the kraal stood in the midst of a desert!

Words cannot depict the emotions of the field-cornet at that s