62 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 247. 



siege of Londonderry to the year 1854, memorable 

 for the theft of a Judge's wig. H. D. 



Preservation of Monumental Inscriptions. — If 

 the act of parliament which is to authorise the 

 removal of certain City churches, provided also 

 that copies of all inscriptions on the monuments 

 removed should be verified in the presence of 

 certain authorities, and that such verified copies 

 of inscriptions should be receivable in evidence, 

 as the orijjinals might be, the difficulty entertained 

 by Lord Palmerston in the matter might thus be 

 removed. T. F. 



<h\\.txiti. 



CHILDREN NUETORED BY WOLVES IN INDIA. 



An Account of Wolves nurturing Children in 

 their Dens, by an Lidian Official, Plymouth, 1852. 

 — This curious pamphlet was published two years 

 since at Plymouth, under the anonymous designa- 

 tion of "an Indian Official." It is reported that the 

 author is Col. Sleeman, whose name is well known 

 not only as the exterminator of the Thugs, but 

 also as a high authority on Indian affairs. The 

 statements which it contains are, however, so 

 strange and improbable, that it is desirable that 

 they should be authenticated by some avowed 

 writer. For this reason I am desirous of calling 

 the attention of the readers of " N. & Q." to its 

 contents. 



This pamphlet then alleges that native children 

 have, in certain districts of India, been in their 

 early years either carried away by a she-wolf, or 

 fallen into her power ; that they have been nur- 

 tured by the wild animal ; that they have subse- 

 quently been seen, in a wild state, in the company 

 of their adopted mother; and that they have 

 been rescued from her, and restored to the care 

 of human beings. The following is the first case 

 mentioned by the anonymous writer : 



"There is now (he says), at Sultanpoor, a boy who 

 was found alive in a wolf's den near Chandour, ten miles 

 from Sultanpoor, about two j'ears and a half ago. A 

 trooper, sent by the native governor of the district to 

 Chandour, to demand payment of some revenue, was 

 passing along the bank of the river, near Chandour, about 

 noon, when he saw a large female wolf leave her den, fol- 

 lowed by three whelps and a little boy. The boy went on 

 all fours, and seemed to be on the best possible terms with 

 the old dam and three whelps, and the mother seemed to 

 guard all four with equal cave. They all went down to 

 the river and drank, without perceiving the trooper, who 

 sat upon his horse, watching them ; as soon as they were 

 about to turn back, the trooper pushed on to cut off, and 

 secure the boy ; but he ran as fast as the whelps could, 

 and kept up with the old one. The ground was uneven, 

 and the trooper's horse could not overtake them. They 

 all entered the den ; and the trooper assembled some peo- 

 ple from Chandour with pickaxes, and dug into the den. 

 When they had dug in about six or eight feet, the old 

 wolf bolted with her three whelps and the boy. The 



trooper mounted and pursued, followed by the fleetest 

 young men of the party ; and, as the ground over which 

 they had to fly was more even, he headed them, and 

 turned the whelps and boy back upon the men on foot, 

 who secured the boj', and let the old dam and her three 

 cubs go on their way." 



The boy was taken to the village ; but he be- 

 haved like a wild animal, trying to escape on his 

 way into holes or dens ; and, instead of articulate 

 speech, making only an angry growl or snarl. He 

 avoided grown-up persons, but bit at children ; 

 he rejected cooked meat, but ate raw flesh, which 

 he put on the ground under his h.ands like a dog. 

 He would not allow any one to come near him 

 while he was eating, but he would share his food 

 with a dog. The trooper left the boy in charge 

 of the Rajah of Husunpoor, and the latter sent 

 him to Cap. Nicholetts, who commanded the first 

 regiment of Oude Local Infantry at Sultanpoor. 

 From this time he remained in charge of Capt. 

 Nicholetts' servants; he was apparently nine or 

 ten years old when found ; he lived about three 

 years afterwards, and died in August, 1850. His 

 features were coarse ; his countenance was repul- 

 sive, and he was very filthy in his habits. He ate 

 and drank greedily ; would devour half a lamb at 

 a time, and was fond of taking up earth and small 

 stones and eating them. He could never be in- 

 duced to keep on any kind of clothing, even in 

 the coldest weather. He was inoffensive except 

 when teased. He was never known to laugh or 

 smile ; or to speak, until within a few minutes of 

 his death, when he said that his head ached. He 

 understood little of what was said to him, and 

 seemed to take no notice of what was going oa 

 around him. He formed no attachment for any 

 one, nor did he seem to care for any one. He 

 shunned human beings of all kinds, and would 

 never willingly remain near one. He used signs 

 when he wanted anything, and very few of thern, 

 except when hungry ; and he then pointed to his 

 mouth. To cold, heat, and rain, he appeared^ to 

 be indifferent ; and he seemed to care for nothing 

 but eating. 



The account of the boy, while he was under the 

 care of Capt. Nicholetts, authenticated by the 

 testimony of an English officer, is entitled to our 

 implicit belief; it leaves no doubt that he waa 

 an idiot, and that he exhibited unmistakeable 

 marks of mental imbecility. The account of his 

 first discovery, however, rests upon a very differ- 

 ent foundation. It is a mere hearsay story, con- 

 veyed by the Rajah of Husunpoor to the English 

 officer, and told to him by a native unnamed 

 trooper. In order to ascertain what this trooper 

 really saw, it would have been desirable that he 

 should have been examined and cross-examined 

 by an Englishman. 



The next case is that of a boy three years of 

 age, the son of a cultivator at Chupra, twenty 



