The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1885-06-13
'STUPENDOUS SPIDERS.
Some Not Very Pretty Insects
Found in the Tropics.
Tarantulas, Scorpions and Centipedes, and
How They Conduct Themselves
Sand-Flies and Mosquitos-Life
in the Bahamas.

With the budding out of the fresh
leaves and blades there come out of
their lairs the only wild beasts of the
Bahamas. They are tarantulas, cent?
pedes and scorpions. They have lain
hidden somewhere or other all winter,
barely showing themselves, but the first
rains of spring put new life into them
and they come creeping out, and turn up
always where least expected. They are
to the people of Nassau what tigers and
lions are to the East Indians. Just
shout Look out for that scorpionn' or
S"There's centipede" if you want to
see everybody jump. They are all
small, but all venomous. If one of
them bite you, you are sure to have
trouble. The poison may not kill you,
Aut it will give you more pam than any
body cares about enduring, and it will
give you 1.-THE fever" as every bodily
i'll is called here by the natives. If it is
a centipede or a scorpion, you may ac-
cidentally pick one up in your hand;
but you will not hold him long. And
anybody who spends few months in
the tropics learns to treat them with the
greatest respect. Without much of that
fear of spiders and insects in general
that some persons have, | think |
should rather encounter a panther or
bear than any one of these three insects.
With the big brutes, you see them COM
ing, or know about where to expect
them, and can be on your guard But
you have not much chance to guard
against the tarantula, the centipede or
the scorpion.
The tarantula being the largest of the
three, the most hideous, and, | think,
the most dreaded, he is perhaps entitled
to be looked at first. He is known by
almost every body in Nassau as 1.-The
ground SPIDER" but he is the real
poisonous tarantula, the same as | have
met him in Arkansas. in Texas, in
Mexico and in Cuba. There are more
of them in Arkansas, think, than any,
where else in the world. In a mornings
walk of six or eight miles there, | have
seen several, and considering the
SPIDERS deadly character and great
size, that was running across them
pretty fast. Here they are not so plenty,
but still there are enough about in the
rainy seasons to make a stranger feel
rather uneasy. We have the common
'house spider" too, as it is called,
sometimes almost as large as the taran-
lula; but he is entirely harmless, and
people hardly ever take the trouble to
kill him. House spiders catch and eat
flies and ants and other small insects
and thus pay their rent. But even the
house spider is not a pleasant com
panion in a room. The tarantula, how
ever, will empty room of its occupants
in about as short order as a tiger would.
The first one | ever saw in Nassau was
when had been at Waterloo about a
month and was having the bushes
cleared away from about the house.
Some of the cOlored boys were at work
in the flower garden and one morning
they made grand dash for the front
piazza. They all looked well fright
ened, and | asked them what was the
matter.
"Groun' spider, boss" one of them
replied as soon as he could catch breath
enough.
We all went out to kill him armed
with hoes, rakes, brooms and all the
long-handled implements we could find,
as well as a wagon, load or so of good
sized stones. He sat among the grass
and weeds, easily seen and watched on
account of his intense blackneSs, and
did not offer to move. None of the
boys would go within eight or ten feet
of him, because it is commonly be-
lieved that tarantulas can and do spring
long distance, being well provided
with muscular and hairy legs for that
purpose. | think, however, that this is
a mistake. | have seen a great many
of them and never yet have seen one
Jump or make any movement beyond a
slow, crawling walk. Their legs are
kept well under them when they walk,
elevating them, should think, about
two inches above the ground. At any
rate we all kept at a respectful distance
from this fellow and pelted him with
rocks. The first shot must have hurt
him, for he made no effort to get away,
and in a minute or two he was pounded
into jelly-a nasty, hairy, black jelly
that no one would care to touch. When
he was used up beyond all danger of re-
susciation we cut him topieces with the
hoes and threw him over the wall. He
was not a very large one for tarantula
perhaps about four inches long and
three inches broad. The hairy black
legs make them look more obnoxious
and disgusting than they otherwise
would. 1t is hard to tell Just how large
and powerful the legs are on account of
the thick black hair with which they
ere covered. After this the boys were