es.

They have been known to arrive in a great city, coming not from afar,
but out of the ground from between the bricks of the pavement and out of
crevices in the walls, suddenly covering the streets with their
multitudes. But this species does not destroy vegetation, as is the
case with others of the locust tribe. They themselves form the
favourite food of many birds, as well as quadrupeds. Hogs eagerly feed
upon and destroy vast numbers of them; and even the squirrels devour
them with as great a relish as they do nuts. These facts were furnished
by the hunter-naturalist, but our trappers had an equally interesting
tale to tell.

As soon as they set eyes upon the locusts and saw that they were
crawling thickly upon the plain, they felt that they were safe. They
knew that these insects were a staple article of food among the same
tribes of Indians--who hunt the sage hare. They knew, moreover, their
mode of capturing them, and they at once set about making a large
collection.

This was done by hollowing out a circular pit in the sandy earth, and
then the four separating some distance from each other, drove the
crickets towards a common centre--the pit. After some manoeuvring, a
large quantity was brought together, and these being pressed upon all
sides, crawled up to the edge of the pit, and were precipitated into its
bottom. Of course the hole had been made deep enough to prevent them
getting out until they were secured by the hunters.

At each drive nearly half a bushel was obtained, and then a fresh pit
was made in another part of the plain, and more driven in, until our
four trappers had as many as they wanted.

The crickets were next killed, and slightly parched upon hot stones,
until they were dry enough to keep and carry. The Indians usually pound
them, and mixing them with the seeds of a species of gramma grass, which
grows abundantly in that country, form them into a sort of bread, known
among the trappers as "cricket-cake." These seeds, however, our
trappers could not procure, so they were compelled to eat the parched
crickets "pure and unmixed;" but this, in the condition in which they
then were, was found to be no hardship.

In fine, having made a bundle for each, they once more took the route,
and after many hardships, and suffering much from thirst, they reached
the remote settlement of Fort Hall, where, being known, they were of
course relieved, and fitted out for a fresh trapping expedit