members. The portions of the prairie visited by the
grasshoppers wear a curious appearance. The grass may be seen cut
uniformly to one inch from the ground. The whole surface is covered
with the small, round, green exuviae of these destructive invaders.
They frequently fly at an enormous height above the earth. An engineer
engaged in the Nebraska survey, mentions that, when standing on the
summit of a peak of the Rocky Mountains, 8500 feet above the level of
the plains in Nebraska--being 14,500 feet above that of the sea--he saw
them above his head as far as their size rendered them visible.

Grasshoppers are excellent prognosticators of a coming storm. They may
be seen at times descending perpendicularly from a great height, like
hail--a sign of approaching rain. At this time the air, as far as the
eye can penetrate, appears filled with them. Early in the morning they
commence their flight, and continue it till late in the afternoon, when
they settle round the traveller in countless multitudes, clinging to the
leaves of the grass, as if resting after their journey.

They are fearful depredators. Not only do they destroy the husbandman's
crops, but so voracious are they, that they will attack every article
left even for a few minutes on the ground--saddle-girths, leather bags,
and clothing of all descriptions, are devoured without distinction. Mr
Hind says that ten minutes sufficed for them to destroy three pairs of
woollen trousers which had been carelessly thrown on the grass. The
only way to protect property from these depredators is to pile it on a
waggon or cart out of reach.

Two distinct broods of grasshoppers appear--one with wings not yet
formed, which has been hatched on the spot; the other, full-grown
invaders from the southern latitudes. They sometimes make their
appearance at Red River. However, Mr Ross, for long a resident in that
region, states that from 1819, when the colonists' scanty crops were
destroyed by grasshoppers, to 1856, they had not returned in sufficient
numbers to commit any material damage. Their ravages, indeed, are not
to be compared to those committed by the red locust in Egypt; and yet
Egypt has ever been one of the chief granaries of the world.

PART TWO, CHAPTER ONE.

MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA.

MEXICO.

If we glance over Mexico, we shall see that the country is, like the
continent of which it forms a part, of a triangular shape,--the eastern
portion bounded