124 THE DASyURES. 



the inner side the hairs are brown-white, slightly 

 inclining to yellowish, those on the fore part are 

 extremely long — upwards of one inch in length ; the 

 fur is short, the average length about 8 Hues, rather 

 harsh but somewhat woolly ; all the hairs are waved : 

 the general colour is pale brown with an obscure yellow 

 wash ; on the back and haunches are numerous trans- 

 verse black, or browai-black bands; these bands com- 

 mence a little behind the shoulders, and at first are 

 narrow and indistinct; towards the middle of the back 

 they become broader, and the spaces between the 

 bands are scarcely broader than the bands them- 

 selves ; over the haunches and rump, where the dark 

 bands are broadest, they exceed the interspaces in 

 width. The anterior bands do not extend on to the 

 sides of the body, but those over the haunches are 

 rather more extended in a lateral direction : the last 

 band but two runs down on to the outer side of the 

 thigh ; the penultimate band forms three parts of a 

 circle ; the last one crosses the root of the tail : 

 the number of bands is about 17. The tail * is thick 

 at the base, where it is covered with somewhat 

 woolly fur like that of the body,t the space occupied 

 by this fur, is about three inches in length, — beyond 

 this, the tail is covered with very short, stiff, and 

 closely adpressed hairs, which on the upper surface 

 of the tail are brown, and on the under surface 

 pale brown ; on the apical portion of the tail, beneath, 



* In two skins I find the tail some^vhat compressed. 



+ In this respect reminding us of the species of Didelphys. 



