The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1896-05-15
CHILDREN STOLEN BY WOLVES
Taken When Young la india and Sucked
and Fustered Ey wild Beasts.

and Fustersd ty Wild Beasts.
From the Pail Mall Gazette.
During my early Indian experiences,
when | was still a "Griff," full of en-
thusiasm to learn all that was posi-
Bile about the many strange and Won
derful things the East has to unfold,
/ heard at a "chpta hazai" table a
conversation which greatly aroused
my wonder and interest The matter
discussed was wolf children-that is,
children stolen when very young,
sucked and fostered by wolves. At
first / was incredulous, but after lis
tening and asking some questions was
soon convinced that the stories related
were certainly true. However, there
was more to learn, for none of those
present had actually seen a wolf child,
and all spoke simply from hearsay,
which, however. was evidently we'll au-
thenticated. After this l never lost an
opportunity of acquiring from likely
people additional knowledge On the
subject. The natives themselves sup
piled me with some information,
Though IL was hazy; still, they proved
to me that there could be no possibility
of doubt as to the existence of such be-
ings.
A jemadar told me that when he
was a lad he remembered going with
others to see a wolf child which had
been Melted. Some time after this.
while staying at an up-country place
called aporeCoundie, in East BENGAL,
it was my fortune to meet an old
Anglo Indian gentleman who had been
in the Indian civil service for upward
of 80 years, and had travelled about
during most of that time, and from
him / learned all ] wanted to know of
wolf children, for he not only knew
of several cases, but had actually sean
and examined at Agra a child which
had been recovered from the wolves.
| This gentleman kindly gave me a de-
tailed description of the boy. and thus
| enabled me 10 make pencil drawings.
| The story of Romclus and Remus.
which all schoolboys and the vast ma
jority of grown-up people regard as a
myth, appears in a different light when
one studies the question of wolf chill
! dren and ascertains how Il comes to
| pass that boys are found living on the
very best terms with such dreacherous
| and rapaCious animals as wolves,
sleeping with them in their den. shar-
| ing the raw flesh of deer and kids
which the she wolf provides, and. in
fact, leading in all essentials the actual
life OF a wolf
A young she wolf has a litter of
cubs. and after a time her instinct tells
| her that they require flesh food She
| steals out at night in quest of prey
Soon she espies a weak place in the
| fence (gencrally constructed of thatch-
| ing grass and bamhoos) which encloses
the compound, or "ungah," of a ma
tive villager She enters, doubtless In
the hope of securing a kid, and. while
prowlng about inside. looks into a
hut where a woman and infant are
soundly sleeping. In a moment she
has bounced on the child and is out Of
reach before its cries can attract the
| villagers. Arriving safely at her den
under the rocks she drops the little one
among her cubs. At this critical time
the fate of the child hangs i'm khe bal
| anoe. Either II will be Immediately
torn to pieces and devoured or in a
most wonderful way remain in the
cave unframed. In the event of es-
cape the fact may be accounted for in
several ways. Perhaps the cubs are
already gorged when the child is
thrown before them, or are being sup
piled with solid food before their car
niVerous instinct is awakened. so they
amuse themselves by simply Kicking
the sleek. oily body of the infant. and
thus II lies I'm the nest. by degrees get
ting the odor of the wolf cubs, after
which the mother wolf will not moles.
ii. In a little time. the infant begins
To feel the pangs OF hunger. and hear
ing the cubs sucking. soon follows
their example Now the adoption is
complete. all fear of harm to the child
from wolves Is gone. and the foster
mother will guard and protect il as
though II were OF her own flesh and
| blood
or course many hundreds Of unfortu-
nate children are yearly taken by
wolves throughout India. and in only
very rare instances do they escape
death. Late statistics published OF the
mortality from wild beasts and snakes
| in India show a total Of "a 500 people
during a year. out OF which 21S fell vic
Tins to wolves alone. These. we may
be certain, were nearly all little child
rem from the fact that Indian wolves.
though 50 strong and fleet, are great
towards. and win never approach,
much less attack. adults. Moreover
wolves are not gregarious. only uniting