"Set up a barrage of fire, lads," he added. "It's our only chance. If those insects do come this way, there won't be so much as a blade of grass nor a bit of green stuff left; and we haven't too much to lose as it is."
For the next few minutes all was rush and hurry. The natives, fully alive to the seriousness of the situation, brought out bundles of straw and cane. These they steeped with paraffin and laid in a huge ring, completely enclosing, but at a safe distance from the outer fence.
By the time these precautions were made, the locusts had changed directions and, avoiding the bare, sun-baked veldt, began to bear down upon the fields comprising part of the Kilembonga Estate.
Before them, terrified by the unusual sight of a wall of insects, came deer of all sorts. Had the lads not been otherwise engaged, they could have kept the larder going for a week, because, neglecting their ordinary sense of caution, the animals dashed by within a few yards of the still busily-employed men.
The swarm of locusts appeared to increase both in breadth and height. The sky was dark with them—a living, seething rampart that left utter desolation in the vegetable world in its track.
A dozen or more fires were started at once. Twenty feet or more the flames leapt skywards, topped by dense clouds of suffocating smoke. Thousands, perhaps tens of thousands and even millions of locusts failed to pass the formidable barrier, but others did, until Colin and Desmond could hardly distinguish the insects from the smoke.
The hot, smoke-laden air was stiff with locusts. They swarmed everywhere, beating against the men's faces, dying in swarms until their corpses covered the ground to a depth of five or six inches.
Desperately everyone strove to keep the invaders at bay, but the task was a superhuman one. In half a dozen places a solid phalanx of locusts penetrated the ring of fire. Reckless of the death-dealing blows the natives delivered by means of sticks and branches, the insects began their work of destruction. The green blades of the growing maize simply vanished.
At length the survivors of the swarm disappeared, leaving behind a gaunt expanse of ground piled deep with corpses. There remained a scene of desolation. The buildings were, of course, untouched, but every blade of grass, every vestige of vegetation had been devoured.
There was no rest for the weary smoke-dried men. The work of clearing up had to be commenced immediately. The dead locusts were picked up in shovelfuls and thrown into the fire. This was a precaution that, if neglected, would certainly cause a devastating disease should the dead insects putrefy.