Wichita eagle., 1888-08-24
THE NAN WOLF.

While with the animal hunters IL the
jungles and foothills to the north Of Beaares
we heard OF o man wolf On two former oc-
casions We had received like reports but
had given little attention to them. The
superstitious natives of India have many
strange beliefs. One of them is that q
brother who has murdered a brother turns
into q man wolf, and roanns the jungies 100
years as a penance. While they hold this
animal in fear and terror, es well they may,
they reason that If he is killed, another rela-
tive of the family must take his place and
serve out the remainder Of his sentence
Therefore, while they would talk to US Of
these monsters, they were always very care
tui not to locate them and bring them into
danger We had long before made up our
minds that there was nothing so very queer
In finding a wild man in the jungles of India
Children are carried of by semi wild men or
mid animals almost daily, and even the
iivilized countries have their wild men roam
ing through the forests. We were willing to
paw a round sum for the capture of a man
wolf, believing he would turn out to be only
wild man, but at the same time greater
curiosity than gorilla.
We had been making our Headquarters in
village for several days, batting cur traps
for hyenss and having natives on the lookout
for serpents when one r1id-afternoon got
into 8 hammock slung between two trees on
the outskirts of the village and dropped off
10 Sleep Ny two white men were already
asleep in harn1nocks sono distance away, and
such Of the natives as were not ont for US
were lying by to pass the heat OF the day
There were two or three children PLAYING at
the door OF q hut near me- but making little
OF no noise. It was es quiet as if a spell had
been placed upon every inhabitant. / had
not slept over half an hour when a mosquito
bit me On the check and started me up I lay
On my right side, and through the neshes Of
the hammock could see the edge of the jun
gle, about forty rods away. The children
were still at play, and were q hundred feet
nearer the jungle than / was. Almost as
soon as / opened my eyes l saw a dark object
leap from the cover of the thicket TO tho
shelter Of a single bush on the cleared
ground Il looked to me in the brief glimpse
l had like gorilla I measured the leap
afterward with a tape line, and it was
twenty-three feet.
/ did not start UP, but rubbed my eyes
wide open to identify tie strange creature
1t had covered until [ could see nothing but
u black spot, and it was two or three min
uteS before it moved again. Then it sud-
denly leaped into view, bounded for the
children exactly as 6 monkey leaps, and be-
fore l could call out it had seized little boy
about two and half years old, and was re-
treating with him. 1t was on its hind legs,
both arms around the child, and running
with great swiftness. The body was naked
and hairy, but | was convinced that it was
that of 4 human being. i yelled out. and
the creature whirled about, raised the child
on high, and, with a shriIl scream of anger,
dashed it down on the hard baked earth with
terrible force. Then it shook its fists at the
villagers swarning out. and, dropping down
on all fours, bounded away into the Jungle.
We found the child gasping its last That
fling had broken almost every bono in his
body. 1t was not until the villagers were
convinced that | had seen the creature and
was assured of its identity that the head man
acknowledged il to be man wolf, and that
it had long been menace to the locality. 1t
was, he said, his cousin, who had killed a
brother fifteen years before. As the creature
had row killed three children, against whom
it seemed TO have q particular spite, and "a
its presence menaced the safety of the vii
laGe, he would give his consent for US to seek
its capture / helped him to reach this con-
clusion by a present valued at $50, and by
agreeing not to give the matter away in any
other Village.
The first thing to be done was to learn the
habits of the creature. He was known to eat
meat, roots, barks and almost anything else
which came in his way. He mast sleep, but
no one could say when, rs he had been seen
prowling around at all hours of the day and
night He was very strong and fierce, and
it was doubted if one OK the tiger cages
would hold him We decided to tempt bis
curiosity, and, to this end, one Of our cages
was placed III the jungle, and tho door SO ar
ranged to shut the creature in if he but
entered. But he took no notice of the Curl
osity, or, il he did, it was to fight shy Of the
suspected trap. Twice in three days he was
seen again on the borders OF the village, evil
IDENTIFY bent on further mischief, and the na-
tives finally found a path which the man
wolf used in going and coming from n water
hole. As soon as they came in with tho news,
we started out TO set q diiferen: trap for him.
The steel traps TO catch wild animals have no
teeth, and the jaws come together in a way
TO give one a leverage on the other. I
have known Of a full grown tiger being
caught by the foot and firmly held in a trap I
no larger than the boys set Tor mink and
muskrat. We replaced the chain with a half
inch rope made Of native grasses, and as
Boon as a suitable spot had been selected we
e1cavated a hole. buried the trap out OF /
sight, and then bent down sapling and tied /
the end Of the rope to it. This Sapling was
held down by a trigger, which sharp pull .
would release
When the trap had beet set no eve could .
detect anything suspicious around the spot, /
and we felt certain that the creature would (
get into trouble if he passed that way. When |
we could do no more we retired to the vii
iasse, about mile away. 1t was about sun
down when We arrived, and we were just in
time to see a wonderful proceeding. a large
and savage looking hyena came out OF the
Jungle ana smiled and SluiTed and srowled
ut us from distance o. about twenty rods
We reralned from shooting, for fear the
reports would brighten the nan wolf away,
aud while hundred of Us stood gazing st the
beast another suddenly appeared It was
the same cTentute l saw from the hammock.
at Is The man wolf" noaneS a score soft
natives in chorus, and a. lc>sta dozen OF them
skunk away into their nuts.
But the beast had Eos FcoTne to disturb as
He had evidently been tracking tns hyena.
and he was there ior revenge. lie bounded
over the ground with great leaps, and cha
nyena did not suspect his approach Thelas.
bound was a tremendous curve IN the air. and
as the man wolf came down il was full rlpou
the hyeuas back. Ee uttered q terrible
scream es he struck, and the hyeua gave vent
to something Ike ST riek. They rolled over
ano Over on the ground, o,uns, claw1ng,
-r,-viSpy ord r-,rCliner br-- tha flo fr d,4 NOT