162 THE TOCANTINS. Chap. IV. 



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 Cameta 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 carefully 

 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 Cameta. 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 sen- 

 sitive 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 



