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Show TEE "WOLF CHnj)RE!N. HUMAN DEIN03 CAnED POR DY ANIMALS. "" Eol Ut( tk. IloMtlwIth. Tfkom Tk.r II.,, , All AlUmpU tm LItIIIm Ikam 11. r. nMa jj. aecrnL II l well-known that the Hindoo u race have a strong aversion to tak-Ung tak-Ung Ufa of any klnii. Strange as It may lent, the wolf la regarded In mime ipatU of India with a peculiar superstitious supersti-tious reverence, which makes the shed-dlng shed-dlng of hla blood aunictlmea Inlqultoua. Aa a consequent the wolvc are bold And numerous, especially In tho dla. trlcts where there la little or no Kuro-pean Kuro-pean Influence. Children, also, are numeroua, nu-meroua, and the wohca, hating no iicruplea about tho aacrednros of life, havo on countleaa occnslona not only raided the vlllago abccpfolds, but have carried off children. Tho vast majority ma-jority of tho latter hare been devoured, but hero find thcro a poor victim, by the aicency of aorao occult Influence, haa been reaerved for a fato worse than death. In 1852 what was probably the Ural circumstantial and authoritative occount of tho "wolf-children" of India waa publlahed by Colonol Sleetnan. a British ofllccr especially distinguished for tho leading part he took In putting down tho thugs and dacolts. According Accord-ing to this authority, tho drat authentic authen-tic rase of wolf acting aa a foster parent par-ent to a human child waa discovered accidentally by a trooper who waa riding rid-ing along the banks of Hirer Ooometoc la northern India. Aa the ravines In that region were all Infested by wolves tho soldier was nut surprised at seeing a aho wolf accompanied by three cubs .como out of a covert and go down tho river to drink. What surprised him very much, however, waa the preaenco of another crcaturo which had the ap-pearanco ap-pearanco of a llttlo boy, but waa evidently evi-dently on tho frlcndllcat terms with Its brute companions and waa treated apparently ap-parently Just "like one of the family." Tho crenturo went on all fours and drank from tho stream Ilka the othera. Tbo trooper tried, though uniucessful-ly, uniucessful-ly, to Intercept the phenomenon before It cacaped with tho wolvea Into their den. He secured the help of aomo natives na-tives and dug several feet until the lair waa almost reached, Tho wolf family mado a bolt Into tho open and It waa only after a stiff chaso and something of a fight that the "wolf-boy" was cap. tared. Ho seemed to bo between 0 and years of ago. 'They took tho boy to tho village, said Col. Slccman, "but had to tie him, for ho was very restive and struggled 'hard to rush Into every holo or den they enmo near. They tried to make jhlm speak, but could get nothing from " "MfifbuVon angry growl or snarl. He waa kept for several daya at tho village and a largo crowd aascmbled every day to sco him. When a grown person camo near him he becamo alarmed nnd tried to atcat away, but when a child ' camo near ho rushed at It with n fierce '- marl, Ilko that of a dog, and tried to blto It." For nbout threo years this being lived liv-ed In charge of a Ilrltlsh ofllrcr'a aor-vanta. aor-vanta. During all that time, In overy Instinct and habit, ho remained n wild nnlnml. Ho wna Inoffensive except when teased and could never bo Induced to wear any kind of clothing, oven In tho coldest weather. Very rarely was he known to walk In n nemt-uprlght position, but ho always ran to his food on all fours, Itnw meat he devoured greedily nnd would often tatta as much as half a lamb at onu moar. Ho was -very fond of uncooked bones which ho used to crunch and gnaw llko a dog, holding them on the ground under hla hands Just na n dog uses his fnro-paws. fnro-paws. Ho would growl angrily If a human hu-man being camo near him whlla ho was rating, but seemed to havo no objection objec-tion to a dog or a Jackal; In fact, ho would sometimes sharu hla meal with such. Ho was never known to laugh or even smile, and onco only was ho - known to apeak. Thla wai Just be- 'fore hla death Ho put his hinds up to hla head, complained that It ached and asked for a drink of water. Ho 'drank tho wntor and expired almost Immediately afterward. Another "wolf-boy" had been carried off from a field whero ho had beon placed whllo his father and mother aero at work. He was then about 3 yearn old. Nothing Noth-ing was heard of him for alx joara. Ills mother was by that tlmo a widow. Sho happened to heur of a "wild-boy" who had been captured at a placo several miles away whllo onUrtug a den In company with wolves. Curiosity Curiosi-ty drew her from her native vlllago to visit tho place whero the boy was 'icpt. Sho rccognlxod him by bodio Indublt-ablo Indublt-ablo birth marks ns hor lost son and took him home with her. She found him quite Irreclaimable, however, and after a few months' abandoned htm to the publla charity of tho village. He was fed on hares, birds, etc, A ifavorlte amusement of tho village boys was to throw live frogs at him and watch how greedily ho would devour them. Whenever a bullock died and was skinned he gorged himself on the carcass In company with tho dogs. During Dur-ing tbo day ho hunr; about tho vlllago for tho sake of what he could get to rat, but overy ovcnlng ho went off to the Junglo and stayed thoro all night In the year 1850, whllo ho was bolng sent to Col. Bleeman, ho escaped Into the Junglo and was never afterward , heard of. Tho "wolf-boy of Agra" differed dif-fered In no material respects from ittther of tho two already described. The strongest point of contrast be-'tween be-'tween them was the length of tlmo he coatlnued In captivity. Ho died seven years ago of consumption, It Is said, and bad been In confinement about twenty years betoro that. The nam liven him was Slntehar. He waa found In 1867 In tho Jungle of Ilulandohakr, In Northwest Pusjaub. Some natives who were hunting big gamo "aurprls-ed" "aurprls-ed" a stray wolf which they followed to a little hillock. Out of thla hillock rose a rock, and on thla rock, evidently aunnlng luelf, sat a drk,curtoue-look-Ing object. To the astonishment of the hunters thla "object" turned out to have a aemblance to a human being. When they approached It Jumped from the rock, ran on all foura nnd entered a cave along with the wolf. The hunt-era hunt-era amoked the cave; both tho wolf and Its human like companion rushed out. After a short, sharp struggle. In which several men wcro bitten, tho latter waa raptured. On Keb, t, 1867, he waa aent by the magistrate of the district In which he was taken to tho Hccundra orphanage, and becauio tho day he arrived there happened to be Saturday ho waa named 81nlchar. At tho time of bla capture Slnlchar arera-cd arera-cd to bo about 8 years old. He waa en-tlrely en-tlrely nude, but for the abort, thick hair which covered his body. Ills behavior be-havior was altogether that of a brute and It waa long beforo be could bo Induced to wear any clothing whatever what-ever or In other ways conduct himself like a human being. He nto his food from the ground, putting his hands on It as a dog does hla forepaws, gnawing gnaw-ing the flesh from the bones and crunching the bones themselves with ease and evident enjoyment A medical missionary has thua described de-scribed this creaturo:"Hls head It small, his brow uncommonly low and contracted, whllo his eyes In proportion propor-tion to his head and faco are large. They are of a grayish color and squinting. squint-ing. He hat, a smalLthln.wrlnkled face, on which aro one or two large cicatrices, cica-trices, marks no doubt of severe bites. On the other parta of hta body also aro evident signs of tho rough treatment to which ho waa subjected when living In tho cavo with his unamlablo companions. com-panions. Ills height, when he stands erect. Is S feet 2 Inches, In walking he lifts hta feet like one wading through wet grass and as he moves along all the muscles of his body seem to be undergoing n aerie of Jerks, whllo his arms are thrown about In such a manner aa to convey the Ira-preaslon Ira-preaslon that tbey must materially as-slat as-slat him In his progress. Ills head also la continually In motion, turning from aide to sldo with great rapidity, while his eyes, which have at all times a hungry appearance, glaro aa It he expected ex-pected nn attack from somo unseen enemy. en-emy. When viewed from behind aa he walks or when ho stands In front of you with hla head Inclined to ono aide, rolling tils largo gray eyes, beating upon his stomach to show that he Is hungry or Imitating the amoklng of a cigar, of which ha Is very fond, grinning grin-ning and uttering Inarticulate and unintelligible un-intelligible sounds, ho certainly present pre-sent a strange appearance." Two facta aro notlceablo nbout tbo "wolf children" hitherto discovered seems easily enough explained, One la that they havo nil been males. It may, of course, "Just havo happened so," that only male, children havo ever bad the distinction of a wolf foster mother. Hut were It otherwise, then tho rugged constitution of tho male child, enabling ena-bling It tho better to withstand tho terrible experiences Incident to such life, would be a rcasonablo explanation explana-tion of why males only have survived the ordeal. When ono thinks how weak nnd hclplese a thing tho human child Is, even the strongest toddlers of 3 years old. It seems even miraculous that even ono such child could exist for a single day or won for a few hours In tho unnatural environments of a wolf's den. Tho other fact la thnt all audi creatures when found havo been children, Tho oldest of them nt tho tlmo of capture could hardly bo mora than 8 or 10 years old. Thla, no doubt, la accounted for by tho various "mqvlng accidents of flood nnd field." to which ail such faster children would bo moro nnd mora continuously exposed ex-posed na they grew older nnd were moro entirely thrown on their own ro-sources. ro-sources. They would neither havo tho Instincts nor the strength and endurance, endur-ance, to contend successfully In tho strugglo for existence with tholr bruto comrades and competitors, |
