The Black-Bellied Tarantula 



time a skilful hunter and an able engineer. 

 It was a question for her not only of con- 

 structing a deep retreat that could hide her 

 from the pursuit of her foes : she also had to 

 set up her observatory whence to watch for 

 her prey and dart out upon it. The Taran- 

 tula provides for every contingency: the 

 underground passage, in fact, begins by being 

 vertical, but, at four or five inches from the 

 surface, it bends at an obtuse angle, forms a 

 horizontal turning and then becomes perpen- 

 dicular once more. It is at the elbow of this 

 tunnel that the Tarantula posts herself as a 

 vigilant sentry and does not for a moment 

 lose sight of the door of her dwelling; it was 

 there that, at the period when I was hunting 

 her, I used to see those eyes gleaming like 

 diamonds, bright as a cat's eyes in the dark. 

 'The outer orifice of the Tarantula's bur- 

 row is usually surmounted by a shaft con- 

 structed throughout by herself. It is a gen- 

 uine work of architecture, standing as much 

 as an inch above the ground and sometimes 

 two inches in diameter, so that it is wider 

 than the burrow itself. This last circum- 

 stance, which seems to have been calculated 

 by the industrious Spider, lends itself admir- 



43 



