LOCUSTS-THEIR DEVASTATIONS.

283

caused by a gale of wind whistling through the shrouds of a ship at anchor. It was interesting to witness at a distance the various shapes and forms that these columns assumed, more especially when crossing mountain ranges. At one time they would rise abruptly in a compact body, as if propelled by a strong gust of wind; then, suddenly sinking, they would disperse into smaller battalions, not unlike vapors floating about a hill side at early morn, and when slightly agitated by the breeze; or they would resemble huge columns of sand or smoke, changing every minute their shape and evolutions.

During their flight numbers were constantly alighting, an action which has not inaptly been compared to the falling of large snow-flakes. It is, however, not until the approach of night that they encamp. Woe to the spot they select as a resting-place! When the rising sun again speeds their departure, localities which, on the preceding evening, were rich in vegetation, are bare and naked as the Sahara. "When a swarm alights on a garden," says Mr. 66 Moffat, or even fields, the crop for one season is destroyed. I have observed a field of young maize devoured in the space of two hours. They eat not only tobacco and every other vegetable, but also flannel and linen."

From what has been said, it is evident that the husbandman has just reason to be appalled at the approach of this destructive insect. To the poor Bushmen, "the children of the desert," on the other hand, who have neither herds to lose by famine nor corn-fields to be destroyed by their devastations, their arrival is a cause of rejoicing. Pringle, in his song of the wild Bushman, has the following lines:

"Yea, even the wasting locust-swarm,

Which mighty nations dread,

To me nor terror brings nor harm;

I make of them my bread."

On the present occasion we found a great number of Hot

284

EATEN BY THE NATIVES-LOCUST-BIRD.

tentots, as also Hill-Damaras, busy collecting the locusts, which was done in a very simple and ingenious manner. Having gathered together large quantities of dry fuel, fires were lighted directly in their path, and as the insects passed over the flames, their wings were scorched, and they fell helplessly to the ground.

They are also collected by cart-loads at night when they have retired to rest; but this plan is occasionally attended with danger. "It has happened that in gathering them people have been bitten by venomous reptiles. On one occasion a woman had been traveling several miles with a large bundle of locusts on her head, when a serpent, which had been put into the sack with them, found its way out. The woman, supposing it to be a thong dangling about her shoulders, laid hold of it with her hand, and feeling that it was alive, instantly precipitated the bundle to the ground and fled."

The locusts, after being partially roasted, are eaten fresh, or they are dried in the hot ashes, and then stored away for future emergences. The natives reduce them also to powder or meal by means of two stones or a wooden mortar, which powder, when mixed with water, produces a kind of soup or stir-about. I have tasted locusts prepared in various ways, but I can not say that I have found them very palatable. But they must contain a vast deal of nourishment, since the poor people thrive wonderfully on them.

Birds of almost every description, more especially storks and kites, are seen devouring them greedily.

The great enemy of the locust, however, is the locust-bird, or the "spring-haan vogel," as it is termed by the colonists. This is described as a species of thrush, about the size of a swallow, and is a constant attendant on the insect. It is even said to build its nest and rear its young in the midst of locusts, which, moreover, occasionally prey on each other; for when a locust becomes maimed or crippled, its companions instantly pounce upon and devour it.

INNUMERABLE SWARMS OF LOCUSTS.

285

The locust which causes such havoc to vegetation in Africa is said to be a different species to that common to Asia, where also, though perhaps not to the same extent, it commits great ravages.

The Cape Colony has been particularly subject to this dreadful scourge, which is invariably followed by famine. The inroads of the locusts are periodical; according to Pringle, about once every fifteen years. In 1808, after having laid waste a considerable portion of the country,* they disappeared, and did not return till 1824. They then remained for several years, but in 1830 took their departure.

The proper home of the locust is yet a mystery. Experience only tells us that they come southward from the north. They rarely appear in any number except in years of abundance.

Almost every day during several months we encountered innumerable swarms of these insects, and it was not till we had crossed the Orange River that we fairly lost sight of them.

* Barrow, who wrote about this period, and who gives a remarkable account of the devastations of these insects, probably alludes to this very circumstance when he says,

"The present year is the third of their continuance, and their increase has far exceeded that of a geometrical progression whose ratio is a million. For ten years preceding their present visit the colony had been entirely freed from them. Their last departure was rather singular. All the full-grown insects were driven into the sea by a tempestuous northeast wind, and were afterward cast upon the beach, where, it is said, they formed a bank of three or four feet high, which extended from the mouth of the Bosjeman's River to that of the Becka, a distance of near fifty English miles; and it is asserted that when this mass became putrid, and the wind was at southeast, the stench was sensibly felt in several parts of Sneuwberg. * * * The larvæ at the same time were emigrating to the northward. The column of these imperfect insects passed the houses of two of our party, who assured me that it continued moving forward, without any interruption except by night, for more than a month."

286 REHOBOTH-MESSRS. KLEINSCHMIDT AND VOLLMER.

On the 15th of March we reached Rehoboth, where, as already said, there is a missionary station pertaining to the Rhenish Society. Here I had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of the Rev. Messrs. Kleinschmidt and Vollmer. They resided in substantial clay houses thatched with reeds. The church, in the erection of which Mr. Kleinschmidt had taken a very active part, is a handsome and roomy structure, capable of holding several hundred people. From the disproportionate breadth of the building, however, the roof could not sustain its own weight, and some time previously to my visit the greater part had fallen down. Divine service, nevertheless, continued to be performed in that portion of the building which remained uninjured.

At this period the station was in a most flourishing condition. But, alas! circumstances have since changed, and it is now a question whether the mission can continue to exist. Should it be abandoned, ten years of unremitted labor and exertion will be entirely lost, and I sadly fear it will break the heart of its founder-the worthy and venerable Kleinschmidt.

Rehoboth is well supplied with good and clear water from a fountain hard by. There is also a copious warm spring flowing from a limestone rock; but the water is looked upon as unwholesome, and only made use of for cattle, washing of clothes, and the seasoning of timber.

The warm spring in question is situated on rising ground, and consequently affords facilities for irrigation, though, unfortunately, the soil is scanty and unfavorable for gardening. The missionaries and a few natives have by perseverance succeeded in fertilizing patches of ground which are tolerably productive. Indeed, I have known a fig-tree-certainly not above five or six feet in height-in Mr. Kleinschmidt's garden to produce a dish of fruit every day for a space of more than three months. The garden vegetables which thrive best are pumpkins, calabashes, watermelons, &c., The wild gourd,

RETURN TO EIKHAMS-VISIT KACHAMAHA.

287

or melon, is also found in great abundance about Rehoboth. When ripe, this fruit is collected by the natives, dried, and stored away for seasons of scarcity.

CHAPTER XXIV.

Return to Eikhams.-Ugly Fall.-Splendid Landscape.-Jonker's Delinquencies.-How to manage the Natives.-The Ondara.-It kills a Man.-How his Comrade revenges him.-Medical Properties of the Ondara.-The Cockatrice.-The Cobra di Capella.-The Puff-adder. The Spitting Snake.-The Black Snake.-Few Deaths caused by Snakes.-Antidotes for Snake-bites.-Return to Rehoboth.

LEAVING Hans in charge of the men and cattle, I posted back to Eikhams, a distance of about sixty miles, in the hope of recovering our debt from Jonker; but he had not yet returned. By this time, however, I received positive information that he and his people were engaged in a cattle-lifting foray. To enable me to acquire full details of their proceedings, I set off for Barmen, the head-quarter for information as respects Damara-land. Here fugitives arrived daily, bringing tidings of plunder and bloodshed. I felt grieved and an- . gry at Jonker's outrageous behavior. Only a year before he had most solemnly promised Mr. Galton never again to molest the Damaras.

Hearing that Kachamaha, the most powerful chief in the country since the death of Kahichenè, resided not far from Barmen, and that he had been a severe sufferer by the depredations of the Namaquas, I determined to visit him, with a view of ascertaining the extent of his own and his countrymen's losses.

I found Kachamaha's kraal on the steep banks of a periodical stream, one of the largest tributaries of the Swakop. The situation was most picturesque. The wonderful luxuriance of the vegetation, and extreme beauty of the landscape at this season, the thousands of cattle crowding the verdant