Page:McCosh, John - Advice to Officers in India (1856).djvu/199

 population turns out against them, firing off guns, beating drums, burning fires, shouting and beating to drive them off. Now and then, they become exhausted and can fly no farther and cover the earth to a depth of some inches; the natives gather them up in baskets and live upon them for some days. A large flight of locusts is a wonderful sight and is remembered during a life time. These locusts are like large grasshoppers, about three inches long, of a rusty brown colour.

Much has been said about the danger of snakes, but really it has not been my fortune to see any of it. I have occasionally met a large one face to face,but always found them in as great a hurry to get out of my way, as I was in to get out of theirs. Man is not a subject of prey with them, they have too much sense to become the aggressor, but if trampled on, they will no doubt resent it. I have very seldom seen a living snake in my house. On one occasion I found the skin of a large one in the grate, having availed itself of the bars to strip off the old skin, it walked off.

20. WILD ANIMALS.—These exert a very considerable influence upon human life both European and native,and are worthy of a paragraph here. It is a curious fact that tigers, though so abundant in many parts of India, especially in Bengal and along the foot of the Himalayan are very little heard of and very seldom seen