TURRIALBA AND PERALTA 261 



Although the sun was shining, the foliage was dense enough 

 to prevent strong light from reaching the ground and in 

 consequence the dark woods had a rather mysterious aspect. 

 An onion-like odor made me suspect peccaries. I stole 

 along the path as quietly as possible, hoping that one of the 

 big Staurophlebia dragonflies, such as I had seen at Guapiles 

 and at Guacimo, would come along the path to meet me and 

 my net, but neither of these hopes was gratified. 



Instead, somewhere far above, was the sound of break- 

 ing branches and a little later a short bark something like a 

 dog's. Still I crept on cautiously, looking constantly up- 

 ward into the tree-tops; in another minute I saw, in an 

 opening amongst the leaves which permitted of a clear view 

 of his whole person — my first wild monkey! It was the 

 common white-faced or capuchin monkey {Cebus capucinus), 

 such a one as lived chained to a pole in the patio of Weldon's 

 Hotel at Cartago. This free fellow looked down at me from 

 his bough for a few minutes while I looked up at him and 

 then, although I made no movement to alarm him, he 

 turned and disappeared among the leaves. Near him were 

 two or three others which I could not see as well. Ten or 

 fifteen minutes later, and at a short distance away, I had 

 another and still clearer view of one of these monkeys as he 

 ran along an almost bare branch of a great tree and stopped 

 midway to watch me. 



Between the two views of the monkeys I saw a Megalo- 

 prepus dragonfly, the largest of all living species, mentioned 

 in more detail in the chapter on Santa Clara. It alighted 

 first on one and then on another twig, seven to ten feet 

 above a little stream whose waters were arched over and 

 partly covered by vegetation. The interest of this observa- 

 tion lies in the fact that in the Biologia Centrali-Americana 

 under this species is quoted the remark of an experienced 

 collector who spent four years in Central America, that he 



