The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1882-12-21
"a NOLF-CHILDREN.

In -e1enicting the temper and dispo-
sl1ioL OF the wolf, such adiectives as
rfhiess, cunning and treacherous' are
Invariably used, and with perfect Justice.
1T would appear, therefore, at first sirht
almost incredible that there should be
many instances on record where children
have been carried away, and instead of
being deFoured, as would assuredly have
been the case had the marauder been a
panther or leopard, they have been
sucked, tended and reared by them.
neme OF these have afterwards been re-
covered; and at this moment there exists
a specimen wolf-child at Secundra. a
small missionary station few miles
from Agra; so that the story of Romulus
and Remus may not be so entirely with
out foundation as we have hitherto been
led to suppose.
Wolves as rule prey upon the fiocks
and herds of the inhabitants of the vii
lages in whose neighborhood they have
made their dens, and upon such wild an
imals as they can hunt down and capture.
Among these latter may be mentioned the
gazeile-antelope and the black buck;
and many and ingenious are the devices
they resort to in order to achieve their
purpose. But in the Northwestern
Provinces of India, about Agra, in Dude
and RaJpootana, they are also very de-
structive to children. Hindus of all
classes are exceedingly superstitious re-
garding the destruction of these pre-
datory brutes, and consider the individ-
ual who has been unfortunate enough to
shed crop of VOLTS blood, doomed to
snfer some grevious calamity. Hence,
though a Government reward of three
rupees per head is offered, it is only the
very lowest of all castes-the sDomes or
Dungars,' as they are called-who will
take the trouble to snare and destroy
wolves. These people lead vagrant
life, and bivouac in the iungles, and
hayevno superstitious dread of killing
any living thing.
The following hypothesis may ex-
plain how it comes to pass that
so cruel and relentless an animal as the
wolf should sometimes be found enact
ing the interesting part of foster-mother
10 one of the human species. A female
with cubs goes prowling about in search
OF food for. its young, and sue
ceeds in rayishing an Indian home of
ITS infant for that purpose. The cubs,
ior some reason or other-not oversen-
sltiveness, certainly, but perhaps 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 and
brought up with the cubs. Although |
me human tendency is to 90 on two
iegs,s we know that even amongst our
selves babies commence by crawling.
NOW, man is essentially an initiative |
animal and seeing the wolves going on |
ail-fours, the alien. naturally tries the |
same method of progression. 1t would |
appear, however, that it has found the
nands ll-adapted for use in lieu of FORE |
ieet, and as a rule the elbows are en-
proved Tor that purpose; in consequence
VI TINS choice, the knees, too, have to
used instead of the. feet, and I
aence horny excresences are usually
iount on both the knees and the elbows. |
Perhaps the two subjoined true mar
iauves of wolf-children that have been
ing.
n one morning many years ago, Mr..
VI, II, who happened at the time to be
magistrate and collector of the Etawah |
ols1rict, was out riding, accompanied by
sTmeohple sm OF sowars or mounted orderlies.
lucy We're passing over a portion of
,Oad that lay in the vicinity of the
,aVlneS of the river ,Tumna when two |
ssI grown wolf-cubs. crossed their
pain; and following them more
slowly, came a very remarkable looking
creature, which shambled along on all
.oars in an extraordinarily uncouth
smon. This turned out to be wolf
aa1a uaa:s Letting the other two go un-
Invested, the three men proceeded to
aalt down the human cub and succeeded
in. inoringlng it to bay. AS they wished
"sake the creature alive, and were alto
Sr sSe'ner unwilling to hurt it in any way,
,asy aey found the greatest difficulty in at