The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1873-02-28
A Strange Story.

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from Prof. j. III. Seelye, dated Allaha-
bad, India, Nov. 20, 1872, detailing a
strange fact which came under his OBJ
servation i'll his recent travels. The
Professors story recalls the tradition in
regard to the infancy of Romulus and
Remus, and suggests that Darwin's
theory of the descent of man may be
superseded by another, taking the
ground that the lower creation il man s
descendant rather than his ancestor.
The letter is ms follows:
Not far from Agra, in Northern India,
is mission station III the Church Mis-
siOnary Society, connected with which is
an orphanage with several hundred chill
dren, now under the efficient care of the
Rev. T.. q. Erhardt. The region around
is infested with wolves, by which, every
year, numbers of children are carried off
and devOured. But in two instances, at
least, instead of being killed and eaten,
the children have been kept alive and
nourished with, if not by, these beasts.
Whether the story of Romulus and
Remus be myth or not, this is an ac-
tual reality, for the children themselves
have been captured from among the
wolves and brought to the orphanage
above mentioned They were both
boys, and apparently of some seven or
eight years of age when taken. They
We're found at different times, the last
one in March of the present year Some
hunters, smoking wolves out of cave,
were startled when the wolves appeared
by the appearance among them of a
! ct, h,,,, I,,rt
running rapidly on all tours, like the
wolves, though not so rapidly as they.
He was caught with difficulty, and there
was no installing that he was child of
human parentage, but with the habits
and actions and appetites of a wild
beast. The hunters brought him to the
orphanage, where he was received and
cared for. Though his physical form
and features were sufficient to show that
he was Hindoo child, there were no
other Indications about him of anything
human. In all other respects, in the
language of Mr.. Erhardt, I" a perfect
animal. He had no speech but a
whine. He would wear no clothes, tear
ing from him everything of the sort,
whenever put on. He would eat moth
ing but raw flesh, and when he drank he
Tapped the water with his tongue. Left
to himself he would hide in some dark
spot during the day, from which he
would come out at night, and prowl
about the inclosure, picking up bones if
any were to be found, and ravenously
gnawing them. 1t Mt first seemed i'm
possible for him to walk erect, but after
much difficulty he was taught to do so,
and also to use fork and spoon, and to
drink like human being Though
treated with the utmost care and with
great patience and kindness by the
! Christian hands and hearts which re-
ceived him, he pined away and died,
: after he had been in the orphanage q
little over four months. In all this time
! he could not be made to utter q word
! he was never seen to smile nor show any
signs of Joy or shame or gratitude. But
Mr.. Erhardt, who gave me this account
: assured me his face looked more intel
, ligent than the average of Hindoo chill
dren, and that his color and features
: indicated that his parentage must have
been in a family of high caste.
l The other boy / myself saw few
1 days since at the orphanage, where h,
l was brought about six years ago, having
2 been then captured much as was tn,
+ first mentioned boy, and having shown
2 precisely the same habits rs belonged t,
r him. He has not yet spoken a word
, but has exchanged the whine, which wa
: at first his only utterance for sounds o
pleasure and apparently also of graft
t tude. He no longer prefers raw flesl
for food, but eats bread and fruit will
: ravenous avidity. He walks erect, bu
= with strangely awkward gait, throwing
e out his hands with every step. Hi
e hands are perfectly formed, but he use
, them awkwardly. A piece of brea,
/, which he was eager to get, he could no
n catch, but let it fall clumsily to tn
Y ground. He wears clothes, to which h
: was ut first averse as the other boy
Y His forehead is low, but his face woul,
Y hardly be called dull, and certainly no
i idiotic. His eyes have wild and rest
t less, but not an inquiring look Hi
$ jaws are not protruding, and his teetl
n are well formed and thoroughly human
$ On his left cheek are scars bearin
t plainly the marks of teeth, where h
t must have been fearfully bitten. He ha
D been taught to do some kinds of work
r but not faithfully. He seems to hav
i lost all desire to escape; he mingle
n freely with the other children, among
: whom he has favorites. When the bo
g first mentioned was brought to the OF
d phanage, this one was made to under
e stand that he must teach the other no,
: to eat and drink and walk, and much
o the improvement in the younger one,
e these respects, seemed due to the 9th,
|. one. The inference from these extrao
y binary instances is strangely at varian,
i with many afiirmations now current.
S does not point in the least to mans der
s walton from the lower creation, but e
g actly to the reverse. If we only look a
+ curately and think closely we shall fin
e much more evidence, both in natu
a and in history, that the lower create
d is mans descendant rather than his a
l. cestor.
4 Automatic Telegraphy.