46 
THE RHESUS, OR BHUHEEK 
The general color of the animal is a rather bright olive-grey, fading into white beneath. The 
skin of the face is of a leathery flesh color. 
The distinctions between the Macaques and the Cercopitheci, are not very striking ; but 
by comparison of the two genera, sufficiently decided variations are visible. These are rather 
comparative than absolute. In the Macaques, the muzzle is slightly more solid than in the 
Guenons, the body and head are larger, and in most species the tail is shorter. The callosities 
are well marked, and in some instances are rendered more conspicuous by a surrounding fold 
of skin devoid of hair. The limbs, too, are more muscular than those of the Guenons. These 
peculiarities may be seen on reference to the illustration. 
Whether the fault lies with its proprietor, or whether the temper of this Macaque be 
really uncertain, is difficult to say ; but its general disposition when in captivity is rather of a 
snappish and crabbed character. Those who have had much to do with the Munga, say that 
it is very capricious, and that its good humor caunot be depended upon, as is the case with 
many domesticated monkeys. 
In its native land, the Munga enjoys exemption from most of the external ills to which 
monkey nature is liable ; for, in common with several other species, it is piously protected by 
the natives, on account of its importance in their myriad-deitied religion. Hot content with 
permitting these monkeys to devastate his plantations at will, the devout Hindoo prepares a 
home for them in his temple, where they rule supreme, and tolerate not the intrusion of any 
monkeys of another caste. When old, they are of a very high caste indeed, according to the 
Hindoo ideas on the subject. The more fierce and savage the monkey, the higher is its caste ; 
and among serpents, the cobra is significantly the Brahmin. 
The Rhesus, or Biiuxdee Monkey, is rather a handsome animal in point of color ; the 
usual olive-green and yellow being relieved by warmer tints of a very bright chestnut, almost 
amounting to orange. The back is of a brownish hue, while the lower part of the spine and 
the outside of the thighs is of the warm tint already mentioned. The arms and shoulders are 
lighter, and change to dun below. The eye is of a light brown color. 
As will be seen in the engraving, the Rhesus is of a short and sturdy make, and looks more 
like an ordinary quadruped than any of the preceding monkeys. The tail, too, is very short, 
and the callosities are very conspicuous ; more on account of their ruddy color, than their size. 
For cool impudence and audacity, this monkey stands unrivalled among its congeners ; 
surpassing even the previous animal in both these characteristics. 
So excellent and spirited a description has been given by Captain Johnson, of these monkeys 
in their wild state, that I cannot do better than present his account in his own words. 
“At Bindrabun (which name, I imagine, was originally Baunder-bund, literally signifying 
a jungle of monkeys), a town only a few miles distant from the holy city of Muttra, more than 
a hundred gardens are well cultivated with all kinds of fruit, solely for the support of these 
animals, which are kept up and maintained by religious endowments from rich natives. 
“When I was passing through a street in Bindrabun, an old monkey came down to the 
lower branches of a tree we were going under, and pulled off my Harcarrah’ s turban, as he was 
running in front of the palanquin, decamped with it over some houses where it was impossible 
to follow him, and was not again seen. 
“I once resided a month in that town, occupying a large house on the banks of the river, 
belonging to a rich native ; it had no doors, and the monkeys frequently came into the room 
where we were sitting, carrying off bread and other things from the breakfast-table. H we 
were sleeping or sitting in a corner of the room, they would ransack every other part. 
‘ ‘ I often feigned sleep, to observe their manoeuvres, and the caution with which they pro- 
ceeded to examine everything. I was much amused to see their sagacity and alertness. They 
would often spring twelve or fifteen feet from the house to another, with one, sometimes two 
young ones under their bellies, carrying with them also, a loaf of bread, some sugar, or other 
article ; and to have seen the care they always took of their young would have been a good 
lesson to many mothers. 
“ I was one of a party at Teekarry, in the Bahar district ; our tents were pitched in a large 
mango garden, and our horses were picketed in the same garden at a little distance off . 
