ing towards the north, anticipating therefrom a general mortality , which they call (el-kberc) the good, or the benediction; for after depopulating the rich plains o f Barbary, it affords to them an opportunity o f emanating from their arid recesses in the Desert, to pitch their tents in the desolated plains, or along the banks o f some r iv e r ; as was done by one o f the kabylts o f Tuat,. after the plague had depopulated Barbary in the summer and autumn o f 1 799, and the spring o f 1800, when these wild Arabs poured into Draha from Sahara, and settled along the banks o f the riv e r o f that devastated country. Locusts are esteemed a great delicacy, and during the above periods dishes o f them were generally served up at the principal repasts; there are various ways o f dressing them; that u su a lly adopted, was to boil them in water h a lf an h o u r ; then sprinkle them with salt and pepper, and fry them, adding a little vin e g a r; the head, wings, and legs are thrown away, the rest o f the body is eaten, and resembles ,the taste o f prawns. AS the criterion o f goodness in all eatables among the Moors is re gulated by the stimulating qualities which they possess, so these locusts are preferred to pigeons, because supposed to be more invigorating.* A person may eat a platefull o f them, containing two o r three hundred, without any ill effects. W h en the locust is young, it is g re en ; as it grows, it assumes a y e llow hue, and lastly becomes brown. I was informed b y an Arab, who had seen the (Sultan Jeraad) king o f the locusts, that it was larger and more beautifully coloured than the ordin ary on e ; but I never my se lf could procure a sight o f it. T h e mode o f catching locusts is thus : several persons go out in the evening, and where they find the bushes covered, This invigorating quality is expressed by the term Skoon, the k guttural. th e y through Haicks, or garments, o ve r them, beating them w ith sticks or cane s; they then collect the insects together, and p u t them in a sack, which they w ill fill, b y this means, in h a lf an hour. A drawing o f this devouring insect w ill be found in Plate II. The Venomous Spider [Tendaraman).— T h is beautiful reptile is somewhat similar to a hornet in size and colour, but o f a rounder form ; its legs are about an inch long, black, and v e ry strong1; it has two bright y e llow lines, latitu d in a lly crossing its back; itforms its web octagonally between bushes, the diameter being two or three yards ; it places itself in the centre o f its web, which is so fine, as to be almost invisible, and attaches to whatever may pass between those bushes. It is said to make always towards the head before it inflicts its dead ly wound. In the cork forests,-the sportsman, eager in his pursuit o f game, frequently carries away on his garments the Tendaraman, whose bite is so poisonous, that the patient survives b u t a few hours. The Scorpion {E l Aharb). — T h e scorpion is generally two inches in length, and resembles so much the lobster in its. form ^ that the latter is called b y the Arabs (Akerb d’elbahar) the sea- scorpion: it has several joints or divisions in its tail, which are supposed to be indicative o f its a g e ; thus, i f it have five, it is considered to be five years old. T h e poison o f this reptile is in its tail, at the end o f which is a small, curved, sharp-pointed s tin g ; the curve being downwards, it turns its tail upwards when it strikes a blow. T h e scorpion delights in stony places, and in o ld ruins; in some stony parts o f the district o f Haha the y abound so much, that on turningup the stones, three o r four w ill be found under
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