Page:The naturalist on the River Amazons 1863 v1.djvu/318

 and fine claws connected with the tips of the member by means of a flexible pedicle.

When they mount to the summits of slender blades of grass, or the tips of leaves, they hold on by their fore legs only, the other three pairs being stretched out so as to fasten on any animal which comes in their way. The smaller of the two species is of a yellowish colour; it is much the most abundant, and sometimes falls upon one by scores. When distended it is about the size of a No. 8 shot; the larger kind, which fortunately comes only singly to the work, swells to the size of a pea.

In some parts of the interior the soil is composed of very coarse sand and small angular fragments of quartz; in these places no trees grow. I visited, in company with Padre Torquato, one of these treeless spaces or campos, as