The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1883-01-11
wolf.Chiidrcn I'm India.
CHILDREN STOLEN AND REARED ny WOLVES
INSTANCES CITED AND THEORY ADVANCED


CHILDREN STOLEN AND REARED ny WOLVES
INSTANCES CITED AND THEORY ADVANCED.
From Chamhcrs JournaI.I
In depicting the temper and disposition
Of the wolf. such adjectiyes rs " ruthless.
cunning, and treachcrous" arc invariably
used, and with perfect justice. II would
appear. therefore. at first sight, almost in.
credible that there should be many
instances on record where children
have been earned away, and instead
oil being deyourcd, as would have as
suredly been the case had the marauder
bern panther or leopard, they have been
sucked, tended, and reared by them.
Some OF these have afterward been recoy-
erred, and at this moment there exists
specimen wolf-child at Secundra, small
missionary station few miles from Agra;
90 that the story OF Romuls and Remus
may not be entirely without foundation, as
we have hitherto been led to suppose.
Wolves, as rule, prey upon the fiocSs
and herds OF the inhabitants OF the villages
in whose neighborhood they have made
their dens. and upon such wild animals as
they can hunt down and capture. Among
the latter may be mentioned the gazelle, an
telope, and the black buck, and many and
Ingenious are the devices they resort 10 in
OENtI W bSHitEt tutA lNlposc, but III lHt
northwestern provinces of India, as about
Agra. in Dude and Raipootna, they arc
also very destructive 10 children. Him.
dus OF all classes arc exceedingly
superstitious regarding the destruction OF
these predatory brutes, and consider the
individual who has been unfortunate
enough to shed drop OF VOLTS blood
doomed to suffer some grievous calamity.
Hence, though Government reward OF
three rupees per head Is offered, II is only
the very lowest of all elasses-the Z" Domes
OF Dungars," AZ they are called-who will
take the trouble TO snare and destroy
wolves. The people lead vagrant life
and bivouac in the iungles, and have no
superstitious dread to kill any living thing.
The following hypothesis may explain
how 1t comes to pass that so cruel and re-
lentless an animal rs the wolf should some
times be found enacting the interesting
part OF foster-mother 10 one OF the human
srecies. A female with cubs goes prowl-
ing about in search Of food for its young,
and succeeds in ravishing an Indian home
OF its infant for that purpose. The cubs,
for some reason or other-not oyer-sensi-
tiveness, certainly, but perhaps because
their carniyorous instincts are as yet
comparatively dormant-merely lick the
child all over. This, probably, accord
Ing to the code Of wolish 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 the human ten
dency is to 90 on two legs, we know that
even among ourselves babies commence by
crawling. Now, man is essentially an
Initiative animal, and seeing the wolves
going on ali fours, the alien naturally
tries the same method OF progress.
IL would appear. however, that it has found
the hands ill adapted for use in lieu OF fore
feet, and. as a rule. the elbows are en-
pioyed for that purpose. In consequence
Of the choice the knees, too, have TO be
used instead of the feet, and hence horny
excrescences are usually found on both the
knees and the elbows.
Perhaps the two subjoined true nara
tives of q wolf-child that has been cap
tured in India may prove interesting:
One morning many years ago Mr.. H,
who happened at the time to be magistrate
and collector Of the Etawan district, was
out riding, accompanied by couple Of
sowars or mounted ordeFlies. They were
pushing over portion Of the road that lay
an the vicinity of the river Jamma, when
two half-grown wolf cubs crossed their
path, and following them more slowly came
a very misunderstanding creature which
shambled along on al-fours in an extra
ordinarily uncouth fashion. This turned
out to be n woli-chid. Letting the other
two 90 unmolested, the three men pre-
ceeded TO hunt down the human cub, and
succeeded in bringing il to bay. As they
wished TO take the creature alive, and were
altogether unwilling to hurt it in any way,
they found the greatest difficulty in at
tempting to secure il, sor 1t fought, bit,
and clawed with extreme ferceness and
pertinacity; indeed, having driven it into
a corner, Mr.. Il and one OF the sOwars
had to mount guard while the other ma
fives proceeded TO the nearest village and
got a stout blanket for the purpose
of throwing it over its head; and
il was by this means that the cap
ture was effected. All the way home the
woli-child behaved like mad thing. 1t
wac, however, taken to lis house,
but it would not be comforted, and for a
long time refused all kinds OF food, includ-
ing raw meat. The creature was boy OF
about nine wears of age, and it may here be
stated that no female wof-child has ever
been heard OF or seen. 1t is not easy TO
assign sufficient reason for the fact that fe-
males have never been discovered, unless
we suppose that, being unable to withstand
the terrible hardships Of such an exist
sBee, they have very soon sickened and
died.