The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-06-19
Tho Devils soldier. YucatHn's Pictures que
and Deadly spider.

III thore Is fercor or more deadly animal
on earth than tho ono that makes ,lfe prccari-
Gus in certain districts in>Yucatan wouldn't
take the country 1t lives in as gift II I had to
spend my days there not IL there WAS q gold
mine to every aero" said u Chicago man. who
returned recently from u prospecting tour in
Yucatan. This animal Is small for m ami
NAL. but for the family to which it belongs it is
n monster. 1t is a spiior and the natives know
1t by the cheerful name OF the devils sol
der" II his Satanic Majesty really had
warriors Of this kind in his service. he W ,uldn't
need moro than ono company Of thcm to march
forth and gather In the world. l suppose this
spider is a great thing fo- the country at large
down there. though. for It keeps the native H.
dian population within bounds have eesn
estimates of the average number of these in
terestins people from whom the dcvil'S sol
dicr unburdens the Sta.e during each year.
but don't remember the cxnct Ngure now. 1t
is not SO large as the numno, OF natives tho
cobra and other wnrm-toothed snHkcs relieve
India oIannn,lly. but / know it is quite re-
This giant spider doesn't weave web t.
deter its victims from rrPcreiins further 1t
scnrns such tricks. and sa! lies forth boldly anil
takes its victim hy the neck openly aud Ob"vo
board. 1t likes rnrr"ts. monSeys. SNAKES. all
one OF, those biz .arilors Gun glide npa nn'iv,
and Gluten him In tho lugulnr would make a
red sauirre ashamed OF th..,way h. can .i.nb
and hns good wind he can get away from it.
for devils soldier ,wIon't chase an lnlun
the o spiier might Keep on and i run uiI'i its
victim down. but thoy are abundant.
itsSlf tired Just chasing an Indian when thsrs
soon. The devil's soldier viii tackle q white
man just tho same as he will IN Indian. but
white men seldom 80 into the interior where
the interesting animal lives: Iycnturrl about
rumorS OF rich gold mine that lying
helpless in there. waiting for some onoto como
and take it away. stories Of this spider in
country. and kept my eyc out forthe monster.
One day was surprised u, see what | ut
first supposed was an animated but III mature
gayly.colorcI vines to greet me-, Ny half:
yelling something about the devils soldier.
drew his feet up and stood erect on his .mno.
spiders. and ii vas 1t the horn OF my ny sad
S Sax puS+t s. hole n ,SIroS:s, Is vnTs; %
fer1cous SIS spiders. and we had oyertaksn
three, Indians CARRYING another Indian who
soldier an holr before. my guide ,mutinicdt.
He would go no further nnd turned his mules
with linn and followed him. Iguess there's
no Iouot about that gold mine bein;: in there
somewhere. Ill give it TO any one who will so
The DEVILS soldier has n SCOPE Of body five
inches wide and about the same in length
Just about the same rs Il IL tty-foot bear would
be among bears. It's head is an inch and II
half across and Is iittcd with a friChtful pair
of la cral Jaws. 1t has two rows Of legs. Tho
legs are two inches long and rs big around as
lead pencil Two big. bri:h hit eyes stand out
on each side OF the head. aud even, when tho
spider, is dead these eyes glare like a rat
tlesnake's. Tho devils soldier climbs
trees and catches parrots and monkeys. or
he can run like hound md overtako
his prey. The most curious thing nbout this
spider is the marking OF It's body. Narrow red
bands extend dlaEona ly in both directions
across the body. crossing, each other in the
centre. and so on around tho und"r Part of
the body. The rest Of the spider is exactly tho
color Of tho ground whore it may be dnni-
cicd Tho purpose, of tho red stripes i, to
counterfeit tho coored vines thlt creep
and eros each other on the Er"und and
spider may Turk anon. them and almost
defy detection. This formidable and deadly
creature abounds in great numbers in tho in
terror. md the Indians live in constant terror
OF it. 1t is on record down there that only ono
person over survived tho bito Of n devils ssl-
der. and he was rayng maniac all his life. |
may rs well say that was actually scared out
of Yucatan by that spider. 1t was a country OF
too much terror for mo"
And yet youa are going back to Chicago?"
Vol yes, But IN familiar with tho lairs
and Jungles there"