2. Never give up! there are chances and changes
Helping the hopeful a hundred to one,
And through the chaos High Wisdom arranges
Ever success-if you'll only hope on.
Never give up! for the wisest is boldest,

Knowing that Providence mingles the cup;
And of all maxims the best, as the oldest,

Is the true watchword of "Never give up!"

3. Never give up! though the grape-shot may rattle, Or the full thunder-cloud over you burst. Stand like a rock, and the storm or the battle Little shall harm you, though doing the worst. Never give up! if adversity presses,

Providence wisely has mingled the cup; And the best counsel in all your distresses Is the stout watchword of "Never give up!"

1. The most interesting tribe of straight-winged insects, because the most formidable, is the locust. In shape it closely resembles the cricket which is often found in old houses, and the common grasshopper of our fields.

2. This insect is about three inches in length, or, reckoning the two horns or feelers on its head, four inches. The body of the locust is of various colours -the head and horns are brownish; the mouth and the inside of the larger legs, blue; the shield that covers the back, green; the upper side of the body, brown spotted with black; and the under side, purple.

3. The upper wings are brown, with small dusky spots. The under wings are more transparent, and

of a lighter brown tinged with green, with a cloud of dark spots near the tips.

4. This insect is truly a terrible scourge to the countries where it is found. There is no creature that multiplies so fast, if the weather be warm and the soil on which it lays its eggs, dry. Happily for us, the coldness of our climate, and the humidity of our soil, are not favourable to the production of locusts: if they visit this country they soon perish.

5. When locusts take to the field they have a leader, to whose flight and motions they pay strict attention. At a distance they appear like a black cloud, which gathers upon the horizon, and almost hides the light of day.

6. When the husbandmen see the locusts coming, they make large fires, beat tins, and do all they can to frighten them away. They are seldom successful, and the locusts settle down in the district in such numbers that the ground is sometimes covered with them to a depth of two or three inches.

7. They commence at once to ravage the meadow and pasture grounds, and to eat up every green thing. In a short time the trees are all stripped of their leaves, the flowers and vegetables destroyed, and the once green pasture becomes a bare brown patch.

8. In the south of Russia, visitations of locusts are frequent and much dreaded. A traveller, Dr. Clarke, writing about them, says, "We now began to perceive the truth of those surprising stories which we had often heard and read.

9. "The steppes were entirely covered with their

bodies, which, in falling, resembled flakes of snow carried obliquely by the wind, spreading a thick mist over the sun. Myriads fell over the carriage, the horses, and the drivers.

10. "The stories of these insects told us by the Tartars were even more marvellous than we had before heard. They said that instances had occurred of persons being suffocated by a swarm of locusts in the steppes. It was now the season, they added, in which their numbers began to diminish. When they first make their appearance, a dark cloud is seen very high in the air, which, as it passes, obscures the

sun.

11. "I had always supposed the stories of the locusts to exaggerate their real appearance, but found their swarms so astonishing, in all the steppes over which we passed, that the whole face of nature might be described as concealed under a living veil."

12. In some parts of the world the inhabitants turn what seems a plague to their own advantage. Locusts are caught in small nets and are eaten by the natives in many countries in the East.

13. They parch them over the fire in an earthen pan, and when their legs and wings have fallen off they turn reddish, like boiled shrimps. Dampier, a traveller, has eaten them thus prepared, and thinks them a tolerable dish.

14. The natives of Barbary also eat them fried with salt, and they are said to taste like cray-fish. In some parts of Asia they are fried in oil or butter, and are then very palatable.

15. A wonderful description of one of their ravages is given by a sacred historian. "They covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened, and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees, and there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs, or in the field, throughout all the land of Egypt."

What insects found in this country does the locust resemble? What is its length? Why is this insect so terrible? Why is it not often found in this country? When a swarm of locusts is seen flying in the air, what does it resemble? What do the husbandmen do when they see them coming? When the locusts alight on the ground, what happens? Name some country they often visit. What are they used for in some parts? How are they caught? How are they cooked? What fish do they taste like? How are they cooked in Barbary?