82 THE TOCANTINS AND CAMETA. Cuap. IV. 
lay under the body of the spider not quite dead, and was smeared with 
the filthy liquor or saliva exuded by the monster. I drove away the 
spider and took the birds, but the second one soon died. The fact of 
species of Mygale sallying forth at night, mounting trees, and sucking 
the eggs and young of humming-birds, has been recorded long ago by 
Madame Merian and Palisot de Beauvois; but in the absence of any 
confirmation it has come to be discredited. From the way the fact has 
been related it would appear that it had been merely derived from the 
report of natives, and had not been witnessed by the narrators. Count 
Langsdorff, in his ‘‘ Expedition into the Interior of Brazil,” states that 
he totally disbelieved the story. I found the circumstance to be quite 
a novelty to the residents hereabout. The Mygales are quite common 
insects: some species make their cells under stones, others form 
artistical tunnels in the earth, and some build their dens in the thatch of 
houses. ‘The natives call them Aranhas carangueijeiras, or crab-spiders. 
The hairs with which they are clothed come off when touched, and cause 
a peculiar and almost maddening irritation. The first specimen that I 
killed and prepared was handled incautiously, and I suffered terribly for 
three days afterwards. I think this is not owing to any poisonous quality 
residing in the hairs, but to their being short and hard, and thus getting 
into the fine creases of the skin. Some Mygales are of immense size. — 
One day I saw the children belonging to an Indian family, who collected 
for me, with one of these monsters secured by a cord round its waist, 
by which they were leading it about the house as they would a dog. 
The only monkeys I observed at Cametd were the Couxio (Pithecia 
Satanas)—a large species, clothed with long brownish-black hair—and 
the tiny Midas argentatus. The Couxio has a thick bushy tail; the 
hair of the head sits on it like a cap, and looks as if it had been care- 
fully combed. It inhabits only the most retired parts of the forest, on 
the terra firma, and I observed nothing of its habits. The little Midas 
argentatus is one of the rarest of the American monkeys ; I have not 
heard of its being found anywhere except near Cametad. I once saw 
three individuals together, running along a branch in a cacao grove near 
Cameta; they looked like white kittens : in their motions they resembled 
precisely the Midas ursulus already described. I saw afterwards a pet 
animal of this species, and heard that there were many so kept, and that 
they were esteemed as choice treasures. The one I saw was full-grown, 
but it measured only seven inches in length of body. It was covered 
with long white silky hairs; the tail was blackish, and the face nearly 
naked and flesh-coloured. It was a most timid and sensitive little thing. 
The woman who owned it carried it constantly in her bosom, and no 
money would induce her to part with her pet. She called it Mico. 
It fed from her mouth and allowed her to fondle it freely, but the 
nervous little creature would not permit strangers to touch it. If any 
one attempted to do so, it shrank back, the whole body trembling with 
fear, and its teeth chattered whilst it uttered its tremulous frightened 
tones. ‘The expression of its features was like that of its more robust 
brother Midas urstlus ; the eyes, which were black, were full of curiosity 
and mistrust, and it always kept them fixed on the person who attempted 
to advance towards it. 

