The Malays in all the islands believe this and in their language orang-outang means "man of the woods."
Certainly monkeys can be trained to act very much like men. Mrs. Lee tells us of one that has been taught by a Frenchman to act in a very polite fashion. One day she met this monkey as he was on his way up stairs. He made way for her very politely and stood on one side to let her pass.
"Good morning," she said, and he took off his cap and made a low bow. "Are you going away? Where is your passport?"
At this question he took a square piece of paper out of his cap and showed it to her.
His master, who was following Mrs. Lee, now told him that the lady's dress was dusty. He at once went to the man, took a brush out of his pocket, and raising the hem of Mrs. Lee's dress, brushed it and did the same with her shoes.
But while monkeys can be trained to do some surprising things, they are not all alike. Some can be taught easily and some not at all. Darwin tells us of a man whose work it was to train monkeys to act, and who bought them from the Zoölogical Society for twenty dollars apiece. He offered double the price if he might keep them for three or four days so as to pick out a good one.
When asked how he could tell this in so short a time he said that what he wanted was a monkey that would pay attention. If when he was talking to one he could not keep its attention, but it turned aside to look at a fly on the wall or other trifle, it was of no use. To force such a monkey to act by whipping would only make it sulky. But a monkey that gave him close attention when he was talking or showing it something could always be trained.
[Illustration: A Pair of Midget Donkeys Driven by a Baboon and Groomed by a Monkey]
Any one who pays attention can be taught, whether boy, monkey, or dog. As long ago as 1753 this was shown in London in the case of the monkey and the dog. In that year everybody in London was going to see and was talking about "Mrs. Midnight's Animal Comedians." This was a troupe of trained dogs and monkeys who were taught to dance a ballet, dressed as ladies and gentlemen. This they did very neatly and cleverly.
But their great act was when, dressed as soldiers, they took part in a mock battle. A fort was built on the stage which was defended by the monkeys and attacked by the dogs. Everything was done as in regular battle. The dogs carried ladders and tried to climb them and capture the fort. The monkeys, armed with muskets, fired on them and the air was full of smoke and the smell of powder.