MACACU8. 15 



4. Macacus assamensis. The Himalayan MonTcey. 



Macacus assamensis, McClelland, Horsfield, P. Z. S. 1839, p. 148; 



Anderson, An. Zool Res. p. 64; id. Cat.y. 70. 

 Macacus (Pithex) pelops, Hodgson, J. A. S. B. ix, p. 1213 (1840). 

 Inuus pelops, Jerdon, Mam. p. 11. 

 ? Macacus problematicus, Gray. Cat. Monkeys fyc. B. M. 1870, 



p. 128. 

 ? Macacus rheso-simiHs, Sclater, P. Z. 8. 1872, p. 495, pi. xxv ; ib. 



1875, p. 418. 



Eur of moderate length, wavy, and, in Himalayan specimens, dis- 

 tinctly woolly in texture. Hair of crown often indistinctly radiating, 

 not lengthened. Tail nearly half as long as the head and body, not 

 tufted. Buttocks well covered with hair, except on the callosities. 



The skull differs hut little from that of M . rhesus, except in being 

 larger, but appears higher, with a deeper lower jaw. 



Colour. Above uniform dark brown, without any grey tinge ; 

 hinder parts the same, not ruf escent, as in M. rhesus ; lower parts 

 distinctly paler. Fur destitute or nearly destitute of annulation, 

 and, in general, of pale tips, slightly lighter in colour, but not 

 ashy, at the base. Face dusky (perhaps variable). 



Dimensions. Adults apparently are considerably larger than M. 

 rhesus. Head and body (probably of an average specimen) 20 

 inches, tail 9| ; of another, a female, 17*2 and 7-6. A male, nearly 

 adult, skull from Upper Burma measures 5-54 inches in extreme 

 length from occiput to premaxillaries, and 3-63 broad, according to 

 Anderson. An adult female skull from Nepal measures 4-7 inches 

 in extreme, and 3'2 in basal length, 3-3 broad. 



Distribution. The Himalayan range as far west as Masuri, or 

 perhaps further, from near the base of the hills to a considerable 

 elevation ; also Assam, the Mishmi hills, and Upper Burma near 

 Bhamo, whence obtained by Anderson. The same species appears 

 also to be found in the Sandarbans east of Calcutta *, and there 

 is in the British Museum a specimen very probably of the same 

 animal from the Laos country in Upper Siam. In Sikhim this 

 species is generally seen between 3000 and 6000 feet above the sea. 

 McClelland's original type was from Assam, possibly from the hills 

 to the northward. The type of M. problematicus of Gray was from 

 Dhalimkot in Bhutan. 



Habits. This species much resembles M. rhesus, but is, whether 

 wild or tame, more sluggish in all its movements. Its voice, too, 

 is different, though the difference is small. 



I was at first disposed to consider the Himalayan form, M. pelops, 

 distinct from M. assamensis, but after going over all the evidence 



* Anderson, P. Z. S. 1872, p. 529, and An. Zool. Ees. p. 64. In his last 

 work, the ' Catalogue of Mammalia in the Indian. Museum,' Calcutta, p. 68, 

 Anderson has referred the Sandarban specimens to M. rhesus, on account of 

 certain cranial characters, and especially the size of the skull. The description, 

 however, agrees with that of M. assamensis in what I believe to be the charac- 

 teristic peculiarities of that species. 



