208 THROUGH THE BRAZILIAN WILDERNESS 



showing that those who endure the adversity cannot stand 

 even a slight prosperity. The woman proved a querulous 

 traveller in the auto, complaining that she was not made 

 as comfortable as, apparently, she had expected; and after 

 one day the husband declared he was not willing to have 

 her go unless he went too; and the family resumed their 

 walk. 



In this neighborhood there were multitudes of the big, 

 gregarious, crepuscular or nocturnal spiders which I have 

 before mentioned. On arriving in camp, at about four in 

 the afternoon, I ran into a number of remains of their 

 webs, and saw a very few of the spiders themselves sitting 

 in the webs midway between trees. I then strolled a couple 

 of miles up the road ahead of us under the line of tele- 

 graph-poles. It was still bright sunlight and no spiders 

 were out; in fact, I did not suspect their presence along 

 the line of telegraph-poles, although I ought to have done 

 so, for I continually ran into long strings of tough, fine 

 web, which got across my face or hands or rifle barrel. I 

 returned just at sunset and the spiders were out in force. 

 I saw dozens of colonies, each of scores or hundreds of in- 

 dividuals. Many were among the small trees alongside 

 the broad, cleared trail. But most were dependent from 

 the wire itself. Their webs had all been made or repaired 

 since I had passed. Each was sitting in the middle of his 

 own wheel, and all the wheels were joined to one another; 

 and the whole pendent fabric hung by fine ropes from the 

 wire above, and was in some cases steadied by guy-ropes, 

 thrown thirty feet off to little trees alongside. I watched 

 them until nightfall, and evidently, to them, after their 

 day's rest, their day's work had just begun. Next morn- 



