The New Hampshire Gazette

Extraordinary Visitation.—A letter from Green B., Mich. Territory, to a gentleman in Washington City, Dated July 19, 1819. gives the following very curious account of the visitation of that country by clouds of insects, which will bear a comparison with the swarms which heretofore darkened the air of Egypt in their flight:—

"Within the last four or five days the fly has appeared—a non descript, perhaps, in natural history—and covered the face of the whole earth, obscuring the sun, moon and stars. I write literally, and without the least exaggeration. The heavens are darkened by them, as in a densely cloudy day: as far as the eye can discern, they fill the air, in every direction, as closely as a thick swarm of bees Corn fields, &c. are prostrated with the clouds that settle upon them; trees are covered. and the branches bent and broken down. The barracks and buildings in the vicinity, at the ends and sides not exposed to the sun, are entirely black, the insects piled one upon another. These creatures,with their feelers, that protrude from head and tail, are about three inches in length, slough their skins, daily. it is said by the inhabitants here; and in dying by millions every hour, infest the atmosphere so that it becomes unfit to breathe. Cattle, Swine, and Indians are said to feed and fatten upon them The Frenchmen call them mosquito hawks. because they make their appearance when mosquitoes are most numerous, and, as is supposed, prey upon and drive them away. The flies themselves remain but six or seven days."