Fair play., 1882-12-02
WOLF.CHILDREN.

6it1Ou VI tue WOI, SuCu duJtCtiNcS q
ruthless, cunning and treacherouS arc
invariably used, and with perfect justice.
: 1t would appear. therefore, at first sight
almost Incredible that there should be
many instances on record where children
have been carried away, and instead oi
being dev0xred. as would assuredly have
been the case had the marauder been a
panther ora leopard, they have been
sucked, tended and reared by them.
Some Of these have afterwards been fe
covered; and at Enhancement there exists
q specimen. wolf-chila at Secundra, .
small missionary station. . few mics
from Agra; sotbat the story of R65ydlus
and Remus mayiist be SO entirely with
out foundation as we have h:thsrtO been
led to suppose.
Wolves as rule prey upon the flOcks
and herds Of the. inhabitants Of the vii
lagos in whose neighbOrhood they have
tmAde their dens, and upon such wildan-
slKhals as they can hunt down and capture.
Among these latter may be mentioned the
gazellesantelope and the blaek-buck;
and many and Ingenious arc tm devices
they resort TO in order 70 achieve their
purpose, Bat in. the : Northwestern
: Provinces of India. about Agra. in Dude
and Rajp0otana, they arc also very de-
structiye to children. Hindus of all
eaasses are exceedingly superstitious re-
agsrtling the destruction Of these pre-
datory ,brutes, And consider The indiyid-
nal who has been unfortunate enough to
shed drop Of wolf blood. doomed to
gutter some grcyious calamity. Hence,
though y Government reward of three
rupees per head is offered. il is Only the
very lowest of all castes-thc .Domcs Or
Dungars. IS they are oalled-who will
take the trouble 10 snare and destroy
wolves. These people head 4 warrant
life, and ibivOuac in the jungles. and
have no superstitious dread OF killing
any living thing.
The following hypothesis may eN-
plains how it comes to pass that
wolf should sometimes be found enact
ing the interesting part of foster-mother
t. one Of the human species. A female
with cubs goes prowling about in search
of food for its young, and sue
.ceeds in ravishing an Indian home of
its infant for that purpose. The cubs.
for some reason or Other-nOt oversen
sitivcness. certainly. but utperhaps because
their carnivorous instincts are as vet
comparatively dormant-merely lick the
child all over. This probably. accord
ing to the code of wOlfish etiquette, is
equivalent to having eaten salt with an
Arab, and the infant is henceforth
adopted by the parent, and sucked ami
brought up with the. cubs. Although
the human tendency is to 60 on two
legs, We know that even amongst our |
selves babies commence by crawling.
Now, man is essentially an initiative |
animal and seeing the wolves going on
all-fours, the alien naturally tries the
same method of progression. 1t would |
appear. however, that it has found the |
hands ill-adapted for use in lieu of fore
feet, and as rule the elbows are en-
plOyed for that purpose; in consequence
of this choice. the knees, too. have to |
be used instead of the feet, and
hence horny excresenceS are usually |
found on both the knees and the elbows.
Perhaps the two subjoined true mar
natives of wolf-children that have been
in India, may prove interest
ing.
One morning many years ago. Mr..
H. who happened at the time to be
magistrate and collector of the Etawah
District, was ont riding. accompanied by
D couple of sowars or mounted orierlieS.
they were passing over a portion of
road that lay in the vicinity OF the
rnyines of the river Jumna. when two
Ill r., &I~ IL
path; and following them more
Ilowly, came very remarkable looking
creature. which shambled along on all
lours in an extraordinarily uncouth
fashion. This turned out to be wolf
Mild. Letting the other two 20 un-
nolested, the three men proceeded to
lunt down the human cub and succeeded
q bringing it to bay. As they wished ;
% take the creature alive, and We're alto
sefher unwilling to hurt it in any way, :
hey found the greatest difficulty in at {;
to secure it: for it fought. bit
nd ciawed with extreme fierceness and
indeed, having driven it ,
nto . corner, Mr.. H and one of the (
oskars had to mount guard, while the
Ieher native proceeded to the nearest vii
age and got stout blanket for the pur- /:
,ose OF throwing it over its head; and it
vas By this means that the capture was [
4 length effected. All the way home
he wolf-child behaved like amad thing, |
creaming and howling, now piteously. :
low in paroxyism Of impotent rage.
was. however, taken to Mr.. rs t
'ouse; but it would not be comforted. t
nd fog long time refused all kinds of |
God, inciuding raw meat. The creature 4
ras . boy Of about nine years of age; and h