"Bushman no fear da springhaan. Bushman hab no garden--no maize--no
buckwheat--no nothing for da springhaan to eat. Bushman eat locust
himself--he grow fat on da locust. Ebery thing eat dem dar springhaan.
Ebery thing grow fat in da locust season. Ho! den for dem springhaan!"
These remarks of Swartboy were true enough. The locusts are eaten by
almost every species of animal known in South Africa. Not only do the
_carnivora_ greedily devour them, but also animals and birds of the game
kind--such as antelopes, partridges, guinea-fowls, bustards, and,
strange to say, the giant of all--the huge elephant--will travel for
miles to overtake a migration of locusts! Domestic fowls, sheep,
horses, and dogs, devour them with equal greediness. Still another
strange fact--the locusts eat one another! If any one of them gets
hurt, so as to impede his progress, the others immediately turn upon him
and eat him up!
The Bushmen and other native races of Africa submit the locusts to a
process of cookery before eating them; and during the whole evening
Swartboy had been engaged in preparing the bagful which he had
collected. He "cooked" them thus:--
He first boiled, or rather _steamed_ them, for only a small quantity of
water was put into the pot. This process lasted two hours. They were
then taken out, and allowed to dry; and after that shaken about in a
pan, until all the legs and wings were broken off from the bodies. A
winnowing process--Swartboy's thick lips acting as a fan--was next gone
through; and the legs and wings were thus got rid of. The locusts were
then ready for eating.
A little salt only was required to render them more palatable, when all
present made trial of, and some of the children even liked them. By
many, locusts prepared in this way are considered quite equal to
shrimps!
Sometimes they are pounded when quite dry into a sort of meal, and with
water added to them, are made into a kind of stir-about.
When well dried, they will keep for a long time; and they frequently
form the only store of food, which the poorer natives have to depend
upon for a whole season.
Among many tribes--particularly among those who are not agricultural--
the coming of the locusts is a source of rejoicing. These people turn
out with sacks, and often with pack-oxen to collect and bring them to
their villages; and on such occasions vast heaps of them are accumulated
and stored, in the same way as grain!
Conversing of these things the night passed on until it was time for
going to bed. The field-cornet went out once again to observe the wind;
and then the door of the little kraal was closed and the family retired
to rest.