Page:The naturalist on the River Amazons 1863 v1.djvu/184

 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 Cametá 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 Cametá. I once saw three individuals together running along a branch in a cacao grove near Cametá; 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 sensitive 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