stream,
meandering along a stony and rocky bed, is not suited to the habits of
a crocodile, and there are none.

The brilliance of fire-flies is quite beyond the description usually
found in books. They flash hither and thither like tiny electric
lamps, and they are so numerous in certain places at certain times
that they might be supposed to be some organised scheme of fairy
illumination on a large scale. Boys sometimes capture two or three and
put them into a bit of muslin and carry them about as lamps, and the
light they give is quite appreciable. The insect itself is a
dull-looking little creature, apart from its luminosity.

Another astonishing experience in which the reality at least equals
the descriptions, is a visitation of locusts. When you hear for the
first time the peculiar rustling sound made by the beating of the
countless wings of the vast army which sweeps past in an unbroken
stream for hours, you realise what an invasion of locusts really
means. Military terms, such as "army," "invasion," are strictly
applicable, because locusts come with a rush and determination, and a
military precision, and an evident unanimity of purpose, which
suggests the movements of soldiers under orders. This idea is
accentuated when the head and body of the locust is of a bright red
colour.

The rapid destruction which they cause has also been described with
fidelity. They have jaws of great power, and when they take possession
of a tree it is stripped in ten minutes or so. When locusts settle
down on a group of trees, the colour of each tree is instantaneously
changed from green to red, because there is practically a locust to
every leaf. When they travel on again, the tree they leave behind them
is bare as an English tree in mid-winter. Little can be done to arrest
their progress. An ordinary garden may be protected to some extent by
beating the trees with poles, and so driving off the locusts as fast
as they alight. But to protect any large area in this way is
impossible.

The natives try to frighten them by making a deafening din, beating
tom-toms and tin cans, but it is doubtful whether the locusts pay any
heed to these demonstrations. A few people amongst the lower castes
eat locusts, but they are not sought after by Indians in general.
Monkeys, dogs, and some birds eat them, but their numbers are so vast
that none of their enemies produce any appreciable diminution.

In the Indian world of nature the sweet melod