326 SPIDEKS. Chap. XVII. 



manner than either patiently waiting in ambush, or by catclnng 

 it with a bound. It runs about with great velocity in and out, 

 behind and around every object, searching for what it may 

 devour, and, from its size and rapid motions, excites the horror 

 of every stranger. I never knew it to do any harm except 

 frightening the nervous, and I believe few could look upon it 

 for the first time without feeling himself in danger. It is named 

 by the natives " selali," and is believed to be the maker of a 

 hinged cover for its nest. You see a door, about the size of a 

 shilling, lying beside a deep hole of nearly similar diameter. 

 The inside of the door lying upwards, and which attracts your 

 notice, is of a pure white silky substance, like paper. The outer 

 side is coated over with earth, precisely like that in which the 

 hole is made. If you try to lift it, you find it is fastened by a 

 hinge on one side, and, if it is turned over upon the hole, it fits 

 it exactly, and the earthy side being then uppermost, it is quite 

 impossible to detect the situation of the nest. Unfortunately, 

 tins cavity for breeding is never seen, except when the owner is 

 out, and has left the door open behind her. 



In some parts of the country there are great numbers of a 

 large beautiful yellow-spotted spider, the webs of which are 

 about a yard in diameter. The lines on which these webs are 

 spun are suspended from one tree to another, and are as thick as 

 coarse tln-ead. The fibres radiate from a central point, where 

 the insect waits for its prey. The webs are placed perpendicu- 

 larly, and a common occurrence in walking is to get the face 

 enveloped in them as a lady is in a veil. 



Another kind of spider lives in society, and forms so great a 

 collection of webs placed at every angle, that the trunk of a tree 

 surrounded by them cannot be seen. A piece of a hedge is 

 often so hidden by tins spider, that the branches are invisible. 

 Another is seen on the inside of the walls of huts among the 

 Makololo in great abundance. It is round in shape, spotted, 

 brown in colour, and the body half an inch in diameter: the 

 spread of the legs is an inch and a half. It makes a smooth 

 spot for itself on the wall, covered with the above-mentioned 

 white silky substance. There it is seen standing the whole day, 

 and I never could ascertain how it fed. It has no web, but a 

 carpet, and is a harmless, though an ugly neighbour. 



