FLESH-EA TING MAMMALS. 



65 



fig. 40. — Indian Wolf (Canis palUves). 



the north, and had not reached that country at the time Ceylon was united 

 ■with the mainland. If this were so, it would seem, however, that the same 

 explanation ought to hold good for hytenas and wolves ; but as both the 

 latter are known to have been well represented in India in tlie later 

 geological epochs, some other reason must apparently be sought, at least, in 

 their cases. 



It is difficult to leave the Indian wolf without referring to the subject of 

 wolf-nurtured children. Many of the stories relating to these have been 

 brought together by Professor V. 

 Ball, in his "Jungle Life in India," 

 where it is related that in all the 

 recorded instances the children 

 were boys, and that the greater 

 number of cases have occurred in 

 Oude. Many persons refuse to 

 attach any credence to such 

 stories, but Mr. Ball strongly 

 urges a suspension of judgment 

 until further evidence be attained. 

 Jf such stories be really based on 

 fact, we can only look to Euro- 

 peans who are stationed or travel- 

 ling in the wilder parts of India 

 to bring to light decisive evidence 

 in support of any new cases that 

 may occur. 



It has been already mentioned that the Indian wolf does not extend west- 

 ward of the Indus ; and in Sind, Baluchistan, and Gilgit its place is taken by 

 the European wolf, which not improbably may also range into the northern part 

 of the Punjab. Large wolves, distinguished by their long soft hair and pale 

 colour, are common on the farther side of the snowy range in Ladak and 

 Tibet, where they are known to the natives by the name of Cliangu. These 

 Tibetan wolves have been generally regarded as a distinct species, described 

 as Canis laniger or chanco, and considered to be more nearly allied to the 

 Indian than to the European wolf. It seems, however, that this view is in- 

 correct, and that the Tibetan wolf is nothing more than a pale-coloured and 

 woolly-haired variety of the common wolf. Occasionally long-haired black 

 wolves are met with in Tibet, which have been regarded as indicating yet 

 another species (C. niger). There is, however, no doubt but that these are 

 merely varieties of the ordinary Tibetan wolf, similar to the dark variety of 

 the short-haired wolf of Europe. It is to a considerable extent for the pur- 

 poses of protecting their flocks against the ravages of wolves that Tibetan 

 villages and encampments are guarded by the huge mastiffs, which not un- 

 frequently make themselves so extremely unpleasant to the European visitor. 



The following interesting account of the habits of wolves in Norway, where 

 these animals are still abundant, is given by a writer in the Asian newspaper 

 of August 19th, 1893 :— 



"The pairing- season occurs in February, and in nine weeks the female 

 brings forth her young. When the time of birth approaches, the mother 

 retires to the most remote and unfrequented parts of the forest, where in 

 Some cleft or cave in the rocks, surrounded by close undergrowth, she con- 

 ceals her offspring. These remain blind for ten or eleven days, and for six 

 6 



