Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1854-08-17
Wolf Nurses in India.

We have Il very Interesting account of obscr-
yaliuns made in Northern India. They were
conducted by very distinguished Indian officer
who possessed unusual opportunities for obtain
ing information from the wilder and less known
parts of the country.
The wolf in India is looked upon as it former
" was in Northern Europe, as sacred animal.
Almost all lIindoos have asnperstitious dread of
destroying or even injuring it; aud village
community, within the boundary of whose lands
drop of VOLTS blood has fallen, believes itself
doomed to destruction. The natural consequent
ccs is. that in the districts less frequcned by
Europeans. these animals are very numerous and
destructive. and great numbers of children are
constantly carried off by them Only one class
of the population, the very lowest, leading va
grant life. and bvouacking among the jungcs,
will attempt to kill or catch them. Even these,
however. although they have no supersti,ious
fear of the wolf, are always found to be well
acquainted with its usual dens and haunts, very
seldom attempt its capture; in all probability
from the profit they make Of the gold and silver
bracelets and necklaces worn BY children whom
the wolves have carried to their dens, and whose
remains are left at the entrance. In all Parts of
India. il appears, numbers of children are daily
murdered for the sake Of these dangerous orna-
| mpnls,
The wolf, however, is sometimes kinder than
man. In the nrighborhood of Sultanponr, and
among the ravncs that interscct the banks of
the Goomlee river, this Animal abounds and our
| first instance of a"wolf nurse" occurs in that
district. A trooper, passing along the river
bank near Chandour, saw large female wolf
leave her den, followed by three wheIps and Il
little boy. The boy went on all Iours, apparent
" ON the best possible terms with his fierce
companions, and the wolf protected him with rs
much care as if he had been one Of her own
whelps. All went down TO The river and drank,
without noiicing the trooper, who, as they were
about to turn back, pushed onin order to secure
the boy But The ground was uneven, and his
! horse could not oyprtakc them All re-entered
the den; and the trooper then '.isembled some
/ people from Chandour, with pickaxes, who dug
into The den for about six or eight feet, when the
old wolf boted, followed by her three cubs and
the boy. The trooper, accompanied by the flee
test young men Of the party, mounted and pur-
sued; and having ut last headed them, he turned
the whelps and boy no ran quite as fast) back
upon the men on foot They secured the boy
and allowed the Others to escape.
i he boy thus taken was apparently about nine
or ten years old, and had all the habits of a wild
animal. On his way to Chandour he struggled
hard to rush into every hole or den he passed.
The sight of grown upperson alarmed him,
and he tried to steal "way; but he rushed at Il
child with fierce snarl, like that of II dog, and
tried to bite it. Cooked meat he would not cat,
but he seized raw foud with cagerness putting
it on The ground under his hands, and deyouring
it with evident pleasure He growled angrily
if any one approached him whilst eating, but
made no objection to dogs coming near and
sharing his food. The trooper left him in charge
of the Rajah of Husunpoor, who saw the boy
Immediately after he was u.s. Tar taken. n very soon
Captain Nichoett's at Sultanpoor; for although
his parents are said to have recognized him when
first captured, they abandoned him on finding
that he displayed more of the VOLTS than OF
human nature.
! He lived in the charge of Captain Nichoett's