THE RINGED CALICURGUS 161 



And that is all. The drama of which the prologue 

 promised so well now seems to me indefinitely postponed. 



A last resource remains ; and I base great hopes upon 

 it. This is to move my Calicurgi to the very spot of their 

 investigations and to instal them at the door of the 

 Arachnid's house, above the natural burrow. I take the 

 field with an apparatus which I am dragging for the first 

 time into the open, consisting of a glass cover, another 

 of woven wire, together with the different instruments 

 necessary to handle and shift my irascible and dangerous 

 subjects. My search for burrows among the pebbles and 

 the tufts of thyme and lavender soon meets with success. 



Here is a splendid one. The insertion of a straw in- 

 forms me that it is inhabited by a Tarantula of a size 

 suited to my plans. I sweep and flatten down the neigh- 

 bourhood of the orifice to receive the wire bell, under 

 which I place a Pompilus. This is a fitting moment to 

 light one's pipe and wait, stretched on the pebbles. . . . 

 A further disappointment ! Half an hour passes and the 

 Hymenopteron confines herself to turning round the wire, 

 as she did in my study. Not a sign of cupidity on her 

 part in the presence of that burrow at the bottom of 

 which I see the Tarantula's diamond eyes gleaming. 



The wire-work enclosure is replaced by one of glass, 

 the walls of which cannot be scaled, thus obliging the 

 insect to remain on the ground and at last to take notice 

 of the pit, which it seems to ignore. This time, we are 

 more successful. After a few strolls round the circuit, 

 the Calicurgus casts eyes upon the cavity that yawns 

 beneath her feet. She goes down it. This boldness 

 staggers me. I should never have dared expect as much 

 as that. To fling yourself suddenly upon the Tarantula 

 when she is outside her domain is all very well ; but to 



21 



