I36 THE SPEECH OF MONKEYS. 



to untie a knot in a rope or chain, and thus re- 

 lease themselves. I have known a monkey that 

 learned to reach its hand through the meshes of 

 the cage and withdraw the pin which fastened 

 the hasp, and thus open the door and get out. 

 The keeper substituted a small wire, which he 

 twisted three or four times in order that it could 

 not be released. The monkey realized that the 

 wire performed the duties of the pin and pre- 

 vented the door from opening. He also knew 

 that the wire was twisted, and that this was the 

 reason he could not remove it. I have seen him 

 put his hand through the meshes of the cage, 

 catch the loose end of the wire, and turn it as 

 though he was turning a crank. He evidently 

 knew that the twist in the wire was made by such 

 a motion, and his purpose was to untwist it; but, 

 so far as I know, he never succeeded in doing so. 

 I have frequently seen a monkey gather up his 

 chain and measure the distance from where he 

 stood to the point at which he expected to alight 

 with the skill and accuracy of an engineer. 



A gentleman of my acquaintance recently 

 assured me that during his sojourn of two 

 years in the Island of Sumatra he had in his 

 service a large orang. This ape did numerous 



