Atchison Champion (Atchison, KS) Aug. 9,
1890, no. 106, p. 3, col C.
A Real, Live, Wild Boy.
The Humane society of Pittsburg has turned up a genuine wild boy. He is
colored, aged 18, and his name is supposed to be Harry Allen. He was brought
from the mountains of Virginia because his parents, who lived there in
a semi-civilized state could not keep him at home. He would run away ever
since he was old enough to climb up the mountain side. Sometimes he
would be in the woods alone for a month at a time. He lived on berries,
roots and live birds, which he could catch with the facility of a cat.
These birds he always ate raw. His hands are like claws, and the pupils
of his eyes dilate like those of a cat.--Exchange.
Atchison Champion (Atchison, KS) June 10, 1891, no. 4217, col
F
A full grown wild boy, aged about sixteen years, has been captured
at Enoch's Point, Australia. His body Is said to be covered with hair four
inches long, the hair of his head being four feet long and his nails five
inches long.
Boston Daily Advertiser 23 October, 1876, no. 97, col E
The town of Gaston (VT) is excited over a wild boy, a modern "Casper
Hauser." He was seen on the mountain by a party of hunters, but on the
approach of the men fled with the swiftness of a deer, and all efforts
to capture him were unsuccessful. Who he is and where he came from is a
mystery.
San Francisco Daily Evening Bulletin. August 19, 1860, no. 87,
col D
Hunting a Wild Boy.--The inhabitants of Carroll county, Ohio, are very
much excited by a male child, from seven to ten years old, that has been
seen several times in the woods, but has not as yet been taken. It has
approached children quietly, but flees from the approach of a man or woman.
A place has been found where it had slept the preceding night and had eaten
a frog. Several hundred persons, regularly organized, are out on the hunt.
Daily National Intelligencer (Wash., D.C.) July 10, 1821, no.
2649, col D
FREDONIA, (N.Y.) JULY 3.
Wild Boy -- A few days since, a boy, almost naked, was seen in the
woods, in the town of Ellicott, in this county. He was first seen by a
woman and a boy, who gave information of the same, when nearly two
hundred of the neighbors turned out and scoured the woods, but, after one
or two days spent in diligent search, they were unable to discover him.
Some time since, a party of Indians came into the above named town, bringing
with them a white boy, about ten or twelve years old, whom they offered
to give to any person that would take him. As no person would take the
boy, the Indians went off with him, and in a few days returned without
him. On being interrogated what they had done with the boy, they refused
to give any account of him. It is probable that the Indians, not being
able to get rid of the boy otherwise, had left him in the woods, and is
the same boy which was lately seen. It is said that he has been seen since
the search, some distance from where he was first discovered. We give
this information as we had it, from a person who was engaged in the search.
Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper. May 23, 1857, no. 76, p.
380, col A.
THE WILD GIRL OF CHAMPAGNE.
The story of the Wild Girl of Champagne is detailed by a trustworthy French
writer, M. de la Condamine. One evening, in September, 1731, the people
of the village of Songi were alarmed by the entrance into the street of
a girl, seemingly nine or ten years old, covered with rags and skins, and
having face and hands black as those of a negro. She had a gourd leaf on
her head, and was armed with a short baton. So strange was her aspect that
those who observed her took to their heels and ran in-doors, exclaiming,
"The devil! the devil!" Bolts were drawn in all quarters, and one man thought
to insure safety by letting loose a large bull-dog. The little savage flinched
not as the animal advanced in a fury, but throwing herself backwards on
one limb, and grasping her club with both hands, she discharged a blow
at the head of the dog, as it came nigh her, with such force and celerity
as to kill it on the spot. Elated with her victory, she jumped several
times on the carcass; after which she tried in vain to enter a house, and
then ran back to the wood, where she mounted a tree and fell asleep. Thirst,
it was supposed, had led her to the village.
THE WILD GIRL KILLING THE BULL-DOG
The viscount D'Epinoy, then in the country, was quickly told of this
apparition, and a search being made early next morning, the little wanderer
was observed at the top of a lofty tree.
THE WILD GIRL SLEEPING IN THE TOP OF THE TREE
Supposing that she was thirsty, they brought a pitcher of water and
set it below the tree. The wild girl, after cautiously looking all around,
came down and drank; but being startled, she reascended the tree before
she could be approached. In the hope of startling her less, a woman and
child were then directed to offer food to her, and entice her down. This
plan was successful, and the savage was caught.
TRYING TO CATCH THE WILD GIRL
She struggled violently, but was carried to the house of M. D'Epinoy.
In the kitchen, fowls were being dressed at the moment, and she instantly
flew on one of them, tore it up pieces and ate it. An unskinned rabbit
was placed before her, which with amazing rapidity and voracity she also
skinned and devoured.
It was soon found that if the little savage possessed any speech whatever,
it was merely a word or two in some foreign or instinctive tongue. The
usual sound uttered by her was a wild scream, not articulated, but formed
entirely in the throat. If any one approached to touch her, she grew wild
and shrieked violently. She had blue eyes, and, strange to say, it was
speedily discovered that her skin was really white, or nearly so, a black
paint having been apparently laid on her face and hands. It was noticed
that her thumbs were very large, and this was afterwards explained by her
as arising from her habit of springing like a squirrel from tree to tree,
by resting upon them.
THE WILD GIRL SPRINGING FROM TREE TO TREE LIKE A SQUIRREL.
Being placed by M. D'Epinoy under the care of a shepherd, she at first
gave much trouble by scraping holes in her place of confinement, and flying
to the tops of trees or the house-roof, where she was as much at home as
on the level ground. She could run with immense speed, and, some time after
she was taken, frequently showed her powers by catching rabbits and hares
at the request of her patrons.
WILD GIRL HUNTING RABBITS.
Her food had been raw flesh, fish, roots, fruits, branches and leaves;
and she never chewed her meat, but swallowed it whole. It was found extremely
difficult to wean her stomach from the taste for raw food. When first taken,
she was allowed by M. D'Epinoy to cater for herself about his ponds and
ditches. She swam like a duck, and was extremely dexterous in diving for
and catching fish, which she brought ashore in her teeth, and then gutted
and ate.
WILD GIRL CATCHING FISH.
Frogs were a peculiar dainty to her. One day, when presented to a dinner-company
at Mr. D'Epinoy's, she looked around at the table, and seeing none of her
own good things, she suddenly ran out to the nearest ditch, where she speedily
gathered an apronful of frogs. These she brought into the dining-room,
and, before the guests knew her drift, she had spread her collection over
the whole of their plates.
THE WILD GIRL AND THE FROGS AT THE COUNT'S DINNER PARTY.
It may be guessed what consternation was caused by the leap-frog game
which then took place. When she had learned to express her ideas in speech,
she informed her friends that she had had a companion, a girl somewhat
older than herself, and black, or painted black. They had quarrelled about
a chaptet, dropped by some one. The elder girl struck the younger one on
the arm, and the younger one returned the blow by a violent stroke of the
baton on the brow, which felled the other to the ground, and "made her
red," that is, drew blood.
WILD GIRL WOUNDING HER COMPANION.
Sorry for her companion afterwards, the younger took the skin of a frog
and spread it over the wound. They parted, however, each taking separate
directions. Before this happened, the pair had crossed a river, which must
have been the Marne, three leagues from Songi. It had been their custom
to sleep all day in trees, which they could do with perfect safety. The
elder girl alluded to was sought for, but was never found. A rumour went
that a black girl had been found dead not many leagues from the spot where
the other was taken; but as it was long ere the latter could tell the story,
the affair could not be unravelled at that distance of time.Le Blanc, as
the little savage was named, had a distinct recollection of being at sea,
and of latterly escaping with her companion from a ship by swim[m]ing.
From her statement, it was conjectured that LeBlanc, at least, was from
the coast of Labrador, and had been kidnapped and carried to the West Indies.
Failing to sell her by the trick of coloring her as a negro, the kidnapper
seems to have brought her to some coast near to France. The hazy recollections
of Le Blanc, which had reference partly to canoes and seals, and partly
to sugar-canes, confirm this conjecture. How long the wanderers had been
in Europe it is impossible to say, but it is evident that Le Blanc had
been long familiar to solitary as well as savage habits. The attempts made
to accustom her to cooked food nearly cost her her life, and her acquired
voracity could not be overcome. At the hospital of Chalons, and subsequently
in a convent, where she spent much of her after life, she was civilized,
however, in every respect. The Duke of Orleans, and many great people were
kind to her. She was, of course, an object of great curiosity to all. The
period of her death is unknown to us, but in 1765 she was still living
in Paris. Some peculiarities marked her through her whole life, and particularly
a certain rolling motion of the eyes, acquired when she wandered in the
woods, and had to guard against surprise. She knew then no fear, however,
and hesitated not to front the wolf or wildcat. Besides the bludgeon mentioned,
which she said she brought from her own country, she had for defence
a stick pointed with iron, which she brought, she said, from the hot
country.
THE STORY OF PETER THE WILD BOY
The connection she had had with society in early life may be supposed to
have in some measure cultivated the intellect of this extraordinary creature.
Not so with another noted savage, called Peter the Wild Boy. "He was found
in the year 1725, in a wood near Hameln, about twenty-five miles from Hanover,
walking on his hands and feet, climbing trees like a squirrel, and feeding
on grass and moss; and in the month of November was conveyed to Hanover
by the superintendent of the House of Correction at Zell At this tune he
was supposed to be about thirteen years old, and could not speak. This
singular creature was presented to King George I., then at Hanover, while
at dinner. The king caused him to taste of all the dishes at the table;
and in order to bring him by degrees to relish human diet, he directed
that he should have such provision as he seemed best to like, and such
instruction as might best fit him for human society.
"Soon after this, the boy made his escape into the same wood, where
he concealed himself among the branches of a tree, which was sawed down
to recover him. He was taken over to England at the beginning of 1726,
and exhibited to the king and many of the nobility. In that country he
was distinguished by the appellation of Peter the Wild Boy, which he ever
afterwards retained.
"He appeared to have scarcely any ideas, was uneasy at being obliged
to wear clothes, and could not be induced to lie on a bed, but sat and
slept in a corner of the room, whence it was conjectured that he used to
sleep on a tree for security against wild beasts. He was committed to the
care of Dr. Arbuthnot, at whose house he either was, or was to have been,
baptised; but notwithstanding all the doctor's pains, he never could bring
the wild youth to the use of speech, or the pronunciation of words. As
every effort of this kind was found to be in vain, he was placed with a
farmer at a small distance from town, and a pension was allowed him by
the king, which he enjoyed till his death." Lord Monboddo, whose researches
led him to interest himself in Peter, visited him at Berkhampstead in 1782,
when the Wild Boy had become an old man of above seventy. The poor creature
looked "sagacious for a savage," his lordship says, but could only articulate
a word or two. In youth he was peculiarly strong and nimble, but an illness
weakened him. He had learned to eat and dress like others, but in many
respects he seemed out of the pale of humanity. "He retains so much of
his natural instinct, that he has a fore-feeling of bad weather, growling
and howling, and showing great disorder before it comes on. If he hears
any music, he will clap his hands and throw his head about in a wild frantic
manner. He has a very quick sense of music, and will often repeat a tune
after once hearing. When he has heard a tune which is difficult, he continues
humming it a long time, and is not easy till he is master of it.
"Till the spring of 1782, which was soon after his illness, he always
appeared remarkably animated by the influence of the spring, singing all
day, and, if it were clear, half the night. He is much pleased at the sight
of the moon and stars: he will sometimes stand out in the warmth of the
sun, with his face turned up towards it in a strained attitude; and he
likes to be out in a starry night, if not cold. He is extremely good tempered,
excepting in cold and gloomy weather, for he is very sensible of the change
of the atmosphere. He is not easily provoked, but when made angry by any
person, he would run after him, making a strange noise, with his teeth
fixed in the back of his hand.
"Of the people who are about him, he is particularly attached to his
master. He will often go out into the field with him and his men, and seems
pleased to be employed in anything in which he can assist them; but he
must always have some person to direct his actions, as may be judged from
the following circumstance: Peter was one day engaged with his master in
filling a cart. His master had occasion to go into the house, and left
Peter to finish the work, which he soon accomplished; but as Peter must
be employed, he saw no reason why he should not be as usefully employed
in emptying the cart as he had before been in filling it. On his master's
return, he found the cart nearly emptied again, and learned a lesson by
it which he never afterwards neglected." Peter died in 1783 at the farm
in Hertfordshire.
THE STORY OF VICTOR, THE SAVAGE OF AVEYRON.
Another authentic case of a boy surviving alone in the woods is that of
Victor, the savage of Aveyron. "Towards the end of the year 1798, a child,
apparently about eleven or twelve years of age--who had several times before
been seen in the woods of Caune in France, seeking acorns and roots, on
which he subsisted—was caught by three sportsmen, who seized him at the
moment he was climbing a tree to avoid them.
"How this unfortunate child was at first abandoned to a state of nature,
could not be discovered. One circumstance affords room to conjecture that
at the time when this took place an attempt had been made on his life.
On the fore part of his neck was a scar of considerable extent, which appeared
to have proceeded from a wound made by some sharp instrument. Some persons,
more disposed than accustomed to acts of cruelty, had doubtless attempted
the life of the child, who being left for dead in the woods, owed to the
timely assistance of nature the cure of his wound. Besides this, he had,
on various parts of his body, twenty-three scars, some of which appeared
to have come from the bites of animals, and others from scratches and excoriations,
affording incontestable evidence of the long and total abandonment of the
unfortunate youth. From the testimony of the country people who lived near
the woods in which he was found, he must have passed in absolute solitude
seven years out of the twelve, which was supposed to be his age when caught
in the woods of Caune.
"When he was first brought into society, he lived on acorns, potatoes,
and raw chestnuts, eating husks and all. In spite of the utmost vigilance,
he was frequently near escaping, and at first showed great unwillingness
to lie in a bed. His eyes were without steadiness and expression, wandering
from one object to another, without ever fixing on any. The organ of hearing
was equally insensible to the loudest noises and the most harmonious music:
that of voice was still more imperfect, for he could utter only a guttural
and monotonous sound. He seemed to be alike indifferent to the smell of
the most delicious perfumes and the most fetid exhalations; and his sense
of feeling was limited to those mechanical functions occasioned by the
dread of objects that might be in his way."
After many escapes, he was finally placed under the care of M. Itard,
at Paris. It was found that he had all his senses and faculties, but that
they were almost incurably dormant. His acquired freedom of will rendered
him impatient under instruction. "His paroxysms of rage became more frequent
and more violent, but his passion was directed less against persons than
things. When in this humor he would gnaw not only his bedclothes but even
the mantel-piece; throw the fire-irons, the cinders, and the hot coals,
about the room and conclude the scene by falling into convulsions, with
symptoms resembling those of epilepsy." The further history of this poor
boy is not stated.
THE WILD MAN OF ST. LOUIS.
The wild man, of whom some accounts appeared in the papers, was caught
lately and brought to St. Louis. He was surrounded in a sort of lair beneath
a dense cluster of undergrowth, like the habitation of a wild beast, and
filled with the bones and skin of cats, which seemed to have constituted
his principal article of food. For this strange diet he had a peculiar
penchant, and eschewed almost every other. He hunted cats with an avidity
prompted by an extreme voracity, and it was in the pursuit and slaughter
of these animals that he was first discovered. Frequent attempts were made
to capture him, but his agility and speed was such that he appeared to
run upon the tops of the bushes, and fences offered no impediment to his
headlong course. At length a great number surrounded and secured him. He
attempted battle, but was overcome. When brought to the Court House he
presented the strangest appearance conceivable. His height was about five
and a half feet, his hair was long, reddish brown and matted, his eyes
large, gray, and restless, his finger nails as long as the claws of a tiger,
his deportment crouching --half timid half threatening--and his garments
consisted of a thousand tatters of cloths, barks, cat-skins, &c, bound
together by catguts. He said he was from the State of New York, and had
been in the woods thirty-six years. While he was being examined, and was
permitted to stand unbound, he made a sudden spring over the heads of those
who surrounded him, and darted away with the speed of the reindeer. The
crowd pursued him, but in vain. Over the hills he fairly flew, before footmen
and horsemen, until he was lost to them. Nothing has since been heard of
him. He is certainly a strange being, and is literally a wild man. His
age can hardly exceed forty, and yet he has lived so much away from the
society of man that he has nearly forgotten his language and has the most
vague recollection of things. He remembered New York, but did not know
where he was, nor the form of government under which we lived. Dr. Knode
was examining him when he escaped, and it is to be regretted that the doctor
could not have had an opportunity of ascertelning the character of his
mania.
THE BEAR WOMAN.
A few years ago there was exhibited in the States a strange and nondescript-looking
being, named by the keepers the Bear Woman. She was covered all over with
a coat of coarse, shaggy hair, and not a trait of the human being was perceptible
in her exaggerated animal features, which were terrible in their expression
of wild, savage cunning; her strength was said to be enormous, and fabulous
accounts were related of her encounters and mastery of the huge beast from
which she took her name, in the forest where she was captured. It was scarcely
possible to guess her age; language she had none, but she was evidently
a white woman, and we can only suppose that, lost when quite young, in
some Indian foray, she gained her subsistence by that wonderful instinct
which seems to gain instant development with the necessities of circumstances.
The marvellous growth of hair can scarcely be accounted for by any known
theory.
Daily National Intelligencer (Washington, DC) 26 September, 1820,
no. 2404, col. B
Gentlemen: In your paper some time past I saw an account of
"a wild woman found in the interiorof Java." History furnishes many instances
of these "unfortunate commoners of nature," who have been exposed by design
or accident. Comparatively few, we fear, have been brought to the domestic
hearth; fewer still have been completely civilized. A book of travels,
now almost obselete, states instances of this kind. A race of marauding
Tartars, subjects of Russia, frequently attacked Polish villages, and carried
off whole families: in conveying their captives home they had to pass the
wild and intricate forest of Minsk, in Russian Lithuania, and there these
unfortunate mothers lost, and were separated from their children. In after
days, when this stupendous region was traversed, for other purposes
than the nefarious one above mentioned, several human males were found
in almost as barbarous a state as the native burghers of the forest, to
whose ferocious instinct many of these innocents had doubtless fallen a
prey.
Peter, the Wild Boy, excited much interest in his day. George the 2d,
of England, found him whilst hunting in the woods near Hamelin, in the
electorate of Hanover. Peter, when found, ran on all fours, like the quadrupeds
amongst whom he had been raised. We might ask, why did the brutes of prey
in this, as well as other instances, deviate from the voracious instinct
planted in their nature? To accident we cannot refer it; and, after wearying
our minds with conjecture, we can only end the difficulty by attributing
it to that providential care which preserved Daniel in the lion's den.
Peter never could be taught to articulate more than two words--his own
name and George; but he learned, with facility and correctness, the notes
of several tunes.
Lord Monboddo, of eccentric memory, mentions in his narrative
respecting Peter, that two children had been found in the same wild state--one
in the island of Diego Garcia, and one in the Pyrennees. He also states
that two wild children were found in the Dismal Swamp of Virginia.* This
immense morass is yet in its inmost recesses, the refuge of wild animals
of prey, particularly bears, panthers, and wild cats. During a fire in
these swamps, 10 or 12 years ago, numbers were hunted down, who had fled
before the rapid flames. A resident in that neighborhood informed me that
he had seen 17 of these animals, some half burned, hang upon a single tree.
In respect to the children noticed by Lord Monboddo, I cannot, in any history
of either Virginia or North Carolina, find the least hint of such a circumstance
having occurred; nor does the writer specify the period when they
were found. Is it not probable that these outcasts from society (admitting
the noble author to be rightly informed) were the offspring of aboriginal
females, compelled to seek shelter in these swamps from the invading colonist,
or from some hostile tribe? Amongst the innumerable tribes of Indians in
Virginia and North Carolina, the Tuskaroras were perhaps most powerful,
and most immediately in the vicinity of this large tract. These aborigines
were not all dispersed or destroyed until 1803, some of them living peaceably
on the reserved lands. The main body of this tribe of Indians had migrated
to New York state, and joined the Senekas, (one of the Six Nations,) many
years preceding. Is it not probable, I again ask, that the young savages
of Lord Monboddo did, in fact, inherit the name from their birth? I would
ask, as a matter of curiosity, of yourselves, Messrs. Editors, or any of
your correspondents, answers to the following questions: When were these
children found? Of what age when discovered? By whom found? What became
of them? Could they be taught the use of speech?
Lord Monboddo maintains that speech is not natural to man, and that
the want of it is no proof that the Ourang Outang is not of the same species,
as that animal only wants the artificial use of it. King John, of
England,† held the same hypothesis upwards of five centuries
before. Tradition (for such records are beneath the dignity of
history) asserts, that this monarch imprisoned two children (a male
and female) in separate cells‡. When, at a certain age, they
were brought before him, each of these little victims repeated a sarcasm
on his folly in thus confining them. He considered his hypothesis as confirmed,
but punished the keepers. The legend is here torn, & we do not learn
(supposing it true) what became of the children, or what further progress
they made in language. That man has the power, as well as the organs of
speech, it appears an absurdity to deny; for what country has ever been
discovered where the natives had not the means of communicating verbally
with each other? In the earliest records of the world we find no sanction
for such an opinion; for the Antediluvians were certainly not defective
in the power or use of speech to convey their ideas. If we deny this we
virtually acknowledge our belief that the Mosaic account of the creation
is "a cunningly devised fable." After the Flood we cannot doubt that Noah
and his descendants still spoke the language of Adam. "All the nations
spoke one language." Lord Kaimes contends that, after the building of Babel,
"men again degenerated into a savage state," which he attributes to the
confusion of tongues, and the dispersion of the tribes. We are no where
told that they lost or forgot the use of speech, which Lord Monboddo considers
incidental to the savage state.
Lord Kaimes appears to take it for granted that all the men then in
existence were engaged in this stupendous and impious attempt to scale
Heaven, and "make themselves a name." This idea is not conveyed by the
sacred historian; it, therefore, appears probable that the tribes which
continued together still spoke the original language and remained
in one place, and as one people. I fear I have trespassed on your limits,
but the subject arose from the preceding remarks. I conclude with reiterating
my request respecting the children found in the Dismal Swamp.
ENQUIRER
*This great swamp, containing nearly 150,000 acres, lies more in North
Carolina than Virginia. It is a marshy region, covered with a thick growth
of cypress or juniper, many of which trees are of a prodigious growth.
These trees are occasionally intermingled with oak, poplar and maple. The
annual fall of leaves, and the decay of trees, raise the surface above
the original soil some feet, this part being completely saturaled with
water. The improvements in agriculture have done much to drain this vast
surface, and many parts are sufficiently dry for the shingle-cutters and
stave-makers to pursue their avocations in spots of this dreary region.
†The Prince John of Ivanhoe, whom Hume characterises
as replete "with cowardice, inactivity, folly, levity, licentiousness,
ingratitude, treachery, tyranny, and cruelty." What a tissue of crimes!
And this was a King!
‡In Newark Castle, where John died in 1216.
Newark Advocate(Newark, OH) September 17, 1869, no.38, col. D
Wild Boy in Iowa
Considerable excitement exists in East Davenport.and Gilbert Town, in consequence
of a wild boy who has been seen by several veracious individuats, prowling
about the woods at the back of Judge Grant's farm and on the river's bank
and islands. About a week ago, a man returning from a shooting excursion,
saw what he at first took for some wild animal crouching by the bank
of the river. It suddenly plunged in and emerged with a fish, which it
devoured ravenously. Getting closer to it he saw that it was a boy apparently
about fifteen or sixteen, entirely without clothes, and covered with
light sandy hair of a silky appearance. He plainly saw the face, and describes
it as revoltingly ugly and brutal in its aspect. He attempted to approach
it, but the creature became alarmed, and, taking to the water, swam to
a neighbouring island, and hid in the sedges. On returning home he
gave information, and a close lookout has been kept. The creature, whatever
it may be, has been seen twice since, and this wild boy of the woods will
doubtless be shortly captured.
New York Spectator August 2, 1838, col. C
We cannot undertake to say how much of hoax there is in the subjoined
story, but it is a pretty fair specimen of the marvellous, and will entertain
some of our readers, perhaps, as much as a political essay, or a new "Indian
fight" from Florida. We copy from the Montrose (Pa.) Spectator.
Strange Animal, or Food for the Marvellous
Something like a year ago, there was considerable talk about a strange
animal, said to have been seen in the south-western part of Bridgewater.
Although the individual who described the animal persisted in declaring
that he had seen it, and was at first considerably frightened at it,
the story was heard and looked upon, more as food for the marvellous, than
as having any foundation in fact. He represented the annual, as we have
it through a third person, as having the appearance of a child seven
or eight years old, though somewhat slimmer, and covered entirely with
hair. He saw it, while picking berries, walking toward him erect,
and whistling like a person. After recovering from the fright, he is said
to have pursued it, but it ran off with such speed, whistling as it went,
that he could not catch it. He said it ran like the "devil," and continued
to call it after that name.
The same or a similar looking animal was seen in Silver Lake township,
about two weeks since, by a boy some sixteen years old. We had the story
from the father of the boy, in his absence, and afterward from the boy
himself. The boy was sent to work, in the back wood near the New York state
line.--He took with him a gun, and was told by his father to shoot any
thing he might see except persons or cattle. After working a while, he
heard some person, a little brother as he supposed, coming toward him,
whistling quite merrily. It came within a few rods of him, and stopped.
He said it looked like a human being, covered with black hair, about the
size of his brother, who was six or seven years old. His gun was some little
distance off, and he was very much frightened. He, however, got his gun,
and shot at the animal, but trembled so that he could not hold it still.
The strange animal, just as his gun went off, stepped behind a tree, and
then ran off, whistling as before. The father said the boy came home very
much frightened, and that a number of times during the afternoon, when
thinking about the animal he had seen, he would, to use his own words,
"burst out a crying."
Making due allowance for frights and consequent exaggeration, an animal
of singular appearance has doubtless been seen. What it is, or whence it
came, is of course yet a mystery. From the description, if an ourang outang
were known to be in the country, we might think this to be it. As
no such animal is known, (without vouching for the correctness of
the story.) we shall leave the reader to conjecture, or guess for himself,
what it is. For the sake of a name, however, we will call the strange animal"
THE WHISTLING WILD BOY OF THE WOODS.--Why is not this story as good as
that copied into the Volunteer of week before last, relative to the wild
boy of Indiana? We acknowledge that the story has excited somewhat our
propensity for the marvellous, and we give it, as much as any thing,
to gratify the same propensity in others.
North American and Daily Advertiser Philadelphia, PA, July 9,
1849, no. 1668, col. G
A West Indian Orson.--We take the following strange story of a wild
boy of the woods, lately fauna on the island of Jamaica, from the Kingston
Journal of the 15th inst.:
Early on Wednesday morning last, the 13th instant, a black boy,
of an insane and wild appearance, was discovered in one of the cane
fields of Molynes's estate, St. Andrew's. He was taken to the overseer's
house, where every means was used to get him to give an account of himself
but all proved fruitless; he either being dumb or incapable of giving utterance
to words, by which he could satisfy any one. When found he was in a complete
slate of nudity, having every appearance of a wild boy of the woods, who
bad been nearly all his life vegetating on whatever first came to hand;
his chest, arms and legs, being covered with a white sort of substance
proceeding from the cane trash, and which be must have long used for bed
and secrecy. He ate some bread and drank two large calabashes of water,
but refused the boiled victuals which were given to him when he was found
by the wtachman on the property. The overseer sent him to Dr. Downer, who
also tried every means to discover if he was dumb or insane, by showing
him a piece of money and frightening him with a whip, but these had no
effect upon him.--The doctor then sent him to the public hospital in this
city, where, having been admitted, he was spoken to, but he still seemed
not to understand, and appeared incapable of replying to any thing said
to him. He is some ten or eleven years of age, of rather an emaciated appearance,
and perfectly wild.
It is supposed that he is an African, and whilst being taken to some
property in the parish, effected his escape, and has been during the
period living in the cane-pieces of Molynes's estate. It is not known,
however, for what period of time he has been on the property in this state
of wild savageness.
Rocky Mountain News, Denver, CO, December 1, 1887, col. D
The Wild Boy Again.
Special to The News.
NEBRASKA CITY, Neb., Nov. 30.--Lon Mann, one of the men who discovered
the wild boy on the river bottoms near Peru last Saturday, was in town
this moraine to have a badly lacerated arm dressed, which he received in
an effort to capture the monstrosity last night. It again escaped, but
early this morning some twenty men followed the trail in the snow which
led to the river where it was lost, and several hours' search failed to
show any trace, as there was ice on the river, though very thin. Those
men advance the theory that the monstrosity was either drowned or crossed
the river in its effort to elude its pursuers. The neighborhood is greatly
excited.
St. Louis Globe Democrat, November 30, 1887, no. 189, col G.
A MYSTERIOUS MONSTROSITY.
Strange Story Told by Nebraska Woodchoppers.
Special Correspondence of the Globe-Democrat.
NEBRASKA CITY. NEB., November 28. -- Two woodchoppers, named John Huff
and Lou Mann, who have been at work on the Missouri River bottoms near
Peru, Nemaha County, for several months past, were in the city last night,
and related to the Globe-Democrat correspondent a strange story of their
experience Saturday evening, in which an alleged wild boy figures. According
to the story of Huff, and corroborated by Mann, for some weeks past their
hut had been entered during their absence and the greater portion of their
edibles either devoured or carried off. At first they blamed several other
woodchoppers who were camped near by, but their denial and the frequent
repetition of the depredations put them at a loss for a solution of the
thefts. They securely barricaded their hut and the annoyance ceased. Then
their neighbors began to complain of the same mysterious disappearance
of their "grub," and a farmer near by accused the men of robbing his hen-roosts,
and even said that one night he had seen one of the men running away from
one of his corn-cribs on hands and knees. Last Saturday evening, as the
men returned from work, they discovered that some one had made an attempt
to break into their hut, and tracks in the fresh earth about the place
indicated that their visitor had been there very recently, While Mann remained
behind Huff went in search of the depredator, and looking about in the
brush and undergrowth for more than an hour in all directions was about
to give up the hunt and return home, when, as he say he almost stumbled
over the form of the most frightful and hideous-looking creature that ever
met the gaze of human eyes. The sight seemed to paralyze him and root him
to the spot -- a mingling of fright and amazement; and not until the animal
disappeared in the thick underbrush could he even find voice to call to
his companion.
He describes it as undoubtedly of human form, in face and body, but
so hideously deformed as to leave only a faint resemblance. The body, as
far as he could observe, was entirely naked, black and rough. The head
bore a slight resemblance to that of a negro. The eyes, a blood-red, protruded
from their sockets, and fangs stuck out from a horribly-shaped mouth. In
locomotion, the monstrosity went on all fours, using its arms from the
elbows to where the hands should be as fore feet. The body was so horribly
misshapen as to defy description.
The two men notified their neighbors, and together followed the direction
taken by the nondescript, but gave up the hunt when night came on without
finding a trace of it. Owing to the thick and entangled brush its capture
is almost an impossibility, unless accomplished while out in search of
food. The cold weather and heavy fall of snow of last night will undoubtedly
drive it out, if it does not freeze or starve to death. Many persons are
inclined to doubt the voracity of Huff and Mann, but people in the vicinity
of the scene rather believe in their truthfulness and associate it with
a colored family named Jacksing, who for several years lived on the bottoms
and left last spring for Kansas. They were known to have had a boy of such
hideous deformity as to be frightful in his ugliness. The boy was often
known to have disappeared for weeks at a time, and his parents often expressed
the wish that he would never return. It is believed he was left behind
when the family went to Kansas, and that this deformed human and the creature
seen by the wood-choppers are identical. Another hunt was to have been
made to-day.
North American and Daily Advertiser Philadelphia, PA, August
23, 1843, no. 1372, col. A
A Wild Boy, with a mane of hair growing down his back, was seen, afew
days since, in Caldeon, Canada. His name is Thomas Speare, and he was lost
in the woods on the night of the 30th Sept. 1841.
New York Herald June 21, 1836, no. 87, col. C.
The Hansag Morass Wild Boy.--The Hansag morass is remarkable for being
the spot where the wild boy was found; and as his story may not be generally
known, I shall give it in the words of the protocol transmitted by the
authorities of the district to the government, which for accuracy may be
depended upon. On the 16th of March, 1749, two Fishermen of Kapuvar, named
Franz Magy and Michael Molnar, found in the Hansag morass, a being whose
appearanee was that of a wild animal, but who bore an exact resemblance
to the human form, except that his limbs were longer, the fingers and toes
double the usual length, and his skin scaly and knotty, his he had was
perfectly round, eyes small and sunk, hooked nose and mouth immoderately
large. He was supposed to be about ten years of age, and when first caught
it was impossible to induce him to eat any thing except grass, hay or straw,
nor would he allow himself to be clothed,, and if at any time he was able
to elude the vigilance of his guards, he invariably jumped into the moat
surrounding the castle of Kapuvar, in which he was kept, and dived and
swam about in it as if it was his native element. After having been confined
about a year, he consented to wear clothes, and eat cooked victuals, in
short he conformed in every respect to domestic habits, and was baptized,
but it was found impossible to teach him to articulate a single syllable.
In consequence of this apparent adoption to the manners of man, his guardians
relaxed their vigilance, of which he took advantage and disappeared. It
is supposed that he jumped into the River Rach, a short distance from the
castle, and regained his old residence in the Hansag morass, for he was
seen sometime afterwards by a party of fishermen among the reeds and rushes
of the shore of the Konigsse, a small lake on the same morass, but, on
perceiving them, he dived to the bottom, and disappeared. After a lapse
of several years, he was again seen by another party of men and a second
time disappeared.
St. Louis Globe Democrat, December 13, 1875, no. 208, p. 2, col.
G
A Wild Boy.
A correspondent of the Greenup (Ky.) Independent, from Floyd county,
says: "A boy, eight years old, who, eight months ago, was driven away from
the sheltering roof of his parents by their cruelty, was lately discovered
by a chestnut-hunter. The boy had been considered drowned during the high
floods, and was nearly forgotten. He has now been restored to his family,
who, we trust, will treat him more kindly. During these eight months, while
living in the woods without seeing a human being, he nourished himself
with birch, sap, sang, wild corn and grapes, and was in a fair way to turn
completely wild when found."
St. Louis Globe Democrat, June 14, 1884, no. 24, col. G
A Wild Boy.
A "wild boy" has, according to the Monitor Republicano of Mexico,
been lately captured in the Santa Rosa Mountains, in the vicinity of Tancanhuitz,
and seems, by all accounts, to be a most unpleasant acquisition. He was,
when caught carried to the town, and put for security in a well-fenced
garden, where he greedily consumed fruit, lettuce, roses and the roots
of several plants. He retained a remarkable taciturnity, never speaking
to any one or appearing to notice the many persons who went to see him.
He was considered to be pertectly harmless; and it he had continued simply
to hold his tongue and confine himself to a vegetable diet, no fault would
have been found with him. The other day, however, he showed a decided tendency
to cannibalism, and behaved in such a manner as to call forth general anxiety
and apprehension. A little child, only 3 years old, happening to come into
the garden, he immediately pounced upon it and began to eat it. The child's
cries attracted attention, but before assistance reached the spot the wild
boy had devoured the flesh of the right arm of the infant and part of its
face. On seeing that his prey was about to be taken from him he squeezed
it to death in his arms, giving utterance at the same time to a horrible
noise--something between a howl and a laugh. The untamable youth is now
chained up; but his captors are at a loss to know what to do with him,
and sincerely wish they had left him alone in the mountains.
St. Louis Globe Democrat January 22, 1884, no. 246, col. C
THE SANTA ROSA WILD BOY.
The wild boy who was captured some time ago in the Santa Rosa Mountain,
in the State of San Luis Potosi, and was taken toTancanhuitz, appears to
be untamable. He would neither learn to speak nor the customs of civilization.
He has subsisted on vegetables and fruit and such roots as he could find,
but the other day he seized a child 3 years old, and, choking it, devoured
all its left arm and part of its face. When detected he tried to flee with
his prey, but was captured. The child died of its injuries.
St. Louis Globe Democrat, January 25, 1876, no. 251, p. 4, col.
F
WILD BOY
A Small Sensation Out in the Suburbs".
Webster Groves, the well-known suburban village, being still a part
of the wilds, and having an interest in all things pertaining thereto,
has felt a trifle piqued of late over the ignoring of its claims to recognition
in the general "shake up" that is predicted by savants. Now she comes in
with a sensation, which redeems her from past remissness as an important
part of the universe, and which equals anything that has been brought to
public notice for many a long day. Day before yesterday a wild boy, entirely
destitute of clothing, made his appearance at one of the most respectable
residences of that village. Several of the neighbors being promptly notified,
succeeded, after some difficulty, in effecting his capture. He was evidently
hungry, as his appeals in unintelligible cries indicated. The lady of the
house feeling a deep interest in his forlorn condition, saw that he was
at once properly fed and clothed, and it is understood as the intention
of the lady and her most worthy husband to adopt him, and though they entertain
but small hopes that he will ever be anything but a wild boy, they will
labor that in time he may be civilized and Christianized.
The curious may obtain further particulars of Mr. Wilde, teller of the
Mercantile Bank, as to weight, size, color of eyes, etc.
St. Louis Globe Democrat, July 31, 1875, no. 73, p. 2, col. G
A Wild Boy Caught.
[From the Austin (Texas) Statesman]
A gentleman arrived from Marcos yesterday, and brought the news of the
capture of a wild boy a few miles from that place. The boy was first discovered
wallowing in a pond of shallow water, and when approached he broke like
a quarter-horse, running about a mile before he could be overtaken by men
on ponies. Riding up near, the boy was lassoed, when a fierce contest ensued,
the strange being striking, kicking and lunging about in the most fearful
manner, and apparently being frightened almost to death. Finally he was
overpowered, tied and taken to the house of the man who first discovered
him. His body was covered with hair about four inches long, and from size
and appearance he is supposed to be about twelve years old. He is unable
to talk, but possesses reasoning power, and now follows his captor about
like a dog.
Butterworth, Hezekiah. "Little Wild Children" The Congregationalist
(Boston, MA) June 5, 1873, no. 23, p. 6, col. E
In all ages of the world we have records of wild children. However well
they may have been instructed after their capture, they have always retained
something of the character of the woods. Their condition has taught us
that the mind must be trained with the growth of the body, to make a man
the glorious being of which he is capable. They also illustrate the interesting
fact that the very lowest orders of human beings are infinitely superior
to the most intelligent animals, in that they have those moral faculties
that are capable of expansion, that recognize God, and discriminate between
right and wrong.
Several wild children who were found in the woods of Europe during the
last century, in a condition that seemed but little better than the beasts,
became pious before they died. In the year 1725 there was found in the
woods near Hamelin, about twenty-five miles from Hanover, a boy who walked
upon his hands and feet like an animal, ran up trees like a squirrel, and
ate grass and moss. He could not speak, and he appeared to be much frightened
at the sight of man. He was captured and presented to George III. of England.
This lad became famous as Peter the Wild Boy.
Six years after the capture of this little wild boy near Hanover, a
gentleman of rank was hunting at Songi, near the old French city of Charlons-sur-Marne,
when he discovered two strange-looking objects swimming in the river, which
he took to be large birds. He at once raised his gun and fired. The supposed
birds in an instant disappeared beneath the water, but presently rose at
a point near the shore. The nobleman was astonished to find that they were
human beings.
They brought to the shore some fishes which they had evidently caught
with their own hands by diving into the water. They began to tear these
in pieces with their teeth, and to eat them without chewing. When they
had finished their meal, they wandered along the banks of the river. At
length one of them found something in the sand, which proved to be a rosary
dropped by some devotee. She hid the treasure from her sister, but expressed
her delight in exultant shouts. The other was angry at this, and a quarrel
arose between the two, in which the possessor of the rosary dealt her opponent
a severe blow on the head, bringing her senseless to the ground. She seemed
to be struck with a feeling of pity after the deed was done. She bent over
the prostrate form, threw back the long hair, and picking up some fish
skins laid them upon the bleeding wounds. The poor creature at last revived,
and seemed to resent deeply the injury she had received. She turned away,
disappearing in the woods, and never was seen again. Like a hurt animal,
she doubtless went away to die.
They were sisters, and the other went to Songi. Her hair was long and
wavy, her skin was dark, and she was covered with loose pieces of fur,
bound around the body.
The people of Songi were filled with terror as she appeared in the street.
The men set a fierce mastiff on her, but she dealt him a blow with a stick
that she carried in her hand that dropped him dead at her feet. At this
the inhabitants took to their heels, and barred themselves within their
houses.
She at last wandered into the open country, and climbed an apple tree,
where she sat eating fruit. The Viscount d'Epinay was stopping at his country
seat at Songi at this time. He pronounced the creature to be a wild girl,
and offered a large reward for her capture. This had the effect of quieting
the people's fears. They gathered around the tree, devising various plans
for her capture. They first carried a bucket of water to the foot of the
tree, thinking that when she became thirsty she would come down to drink.
She did so when they had retired a little from the place, but quickly ran
up the tree again when they came near.
A number of men at last hid themselves near the tree, and a woman carrying
a little child in her arms came near, holding out to her some tempting
fruit. The wild girl watched her for a time, the sight of the child seeming
to give her confidence. At last she came down slowly and cautiously, when
she was seized by the men, who carried her in triumph to the Viscount.
The nobleman gave her to a shepherd to tame, and a terrible time the poor
shepherd had. She was not dangerous, but sly. He could confine her nowhere.
Anything that he could do, she could as quickly undo. He lost her once
in mid-winter, and found her at last on the top of a forest tree, swinging
in the wind, in a snow storm.
The Viscount named her Maria C. Blanc.
He once made a splendid feast, and allowed Maria to sit among the guests
at the table. She seemed to wish to make herself agreeable to the fine
people around her; and suddenly starting up, and speeding away with nimble
feet, she was presently seen bringing something in her apron. She approached
a lady of rank, and holding out a live frog by its leg, said, "Have some?
Have some?" She made the same generous offer to other ladies, much to their
horror, and even insisted upon putting some of these rather unquiet creatures
upon their plates. She had collected them from a neighboring pond.
In her youth she was able to outrun the swiftest animals, even the hares
and hounds. She was once employed on the occasion of a royal hunting party
as the Queen of Sweden's dog. It was conjectured that she was an Esquimaux,
as she said that she had a vague recollection of twice crossing the sea.
She became very devout in her last years, which were passed in a solemn
convent. The contrast between the wild freedom of the forest in her youth,
and her secluded life with the nuns, in her after years, was indeed very
great.
About the close of the last century, while the finding of Peter the
Wild Boy, and Maria C. Blanc, was yet in people's minds, there was seen
in the woods near Aveyron, a wild boy, apparently about twelve years of
age, running about on all fours, grubbing for nuts and roots. Some years
afterwards he was captured by some hunters. He was taken to Paris, but
he always was very savage in confinement. He was exhibited as the Savage
of Aveyron.
He had one interesting quality which Peter also exhibited -- a love
of the sublime and beautiful in nature. Peter used to sing like a bird
on the coming of spring, and the especial delight of the savage of Aveyron
was to watch the rising moon. Our own country furnishes but few notable
instances of these children of the woods, though the Wild Man of St. Landry--Wild
Sam--has recently attracted attention. He lived in the woods near Opelousas,
La. The birds and beasts have been his chosen companions from childhood.
In his early years he lived upon roots and berries. He was never known
to sleep in a house or to enter a white man's dwelling. He was never known
to be sick, and he is now very old, if living.
The Liberator (Boston, MA) September 15, 1843, no. 27, p. 147,
col. F
A Wild Boy. --The following extraordinary advertisement appears
in the Toronto Christian Guardian of the 12th ultimo: -- A reward of fifty
dollars will be given to any person or persons who will find Thomas Spears,
son of William Spears, who was lost in the township of Caledon, on the
night of the 30th of September, 1841. The boy was seen on the 4th of June,
1843, by two sons of Daniel McLaughlin, on the town line between Caledon
and Albion. He was sitting on a stone, looking at his feet, which were
sore; he was quite naked, excepting the waistband of a pair of trousers,
of a dark color, and about four inches of the one thigh in rugs, corresponding
with the same he wore when lost. He was seen again on the 14th of June
last, having on the part of clothing just described, by Mrs. Howard, on
the base line between Mono and Caledon, less than three miles from where
he was lost. Mrs. Howard came close up to him, and was not perceived until
she came so near that she might have put her hand upon him; she was frightened,
and stood to look at him, and he stood in the same manner gazing at her.
On observing such a fearful sight, she started back, and then the boy started
into the woods; she then went to the place, where her husband had some
men logging and they all left work and went in search for him; but they
only found his track in the swamp. Mrs. H. says, that when he turned to
run away from her, he had a mane of hair, growing down his back.
The News and Observer (Raleigh, NC) February 10, 1892, no. 26,
col. B
The Wild Boy of Pindus.
Spectator.
In an Anthenian paper a tale comes from Thessaly of the wild boy on
Mount Pindus: "Demetriader- Worthy-of-honor, the warden of the king's forest
on Mount Pindus, was out shooting in the mountains. Being tired, he left
the chase of the deer and turned up a path which led through a steep glen
to some shepherds' huts, where be hoped to drink a cup of the milk of Pindus,
milk which is famed to be the best of any. While he was walking quietly
up the path he heard a rustling in the underwood and stayed to listen.
Through the branches he saw an unknown animal moving very quickly in the
same direction as himself and made ready to fire at it, but was stopped
by shouts of the shepherd on the hillside above, who called to him not
to shoot. He then followed this strange creature, which had the form indeed
of a man and was wholly naked, but ran very fast, sometimes on its feet,
but more often on all fours, and reached the sheep cote before him. There
he found it eagerly drinking the buttermilk from a trough into which it
had run while the cheeses from the morning milking were being pressed.
When it saw him near it ran into the wood, and the chief of the shepherds
told him its story. "He is a boy," he said, a Wallachian, the son of a
Wallachian, who lived at Castania, on Mount Pindus. The man went back to
Wallachian [] to seek work and there be married. He lived there
some time, but afterward came back to Pindus. Six years he was absent,
and he brought four or five children. Then he died and left his wife and
children to the "five roads" (i. e., to fortune). The woman saw no way
of keeping her children in Castania, so she distributed them among her
neighbors and went back to her own country. But one of them ran away from
the person with whom he was left and has lived in this part of the forest
for four years.
"He lives, even as you saw him, without clothes. In summer he lives
well, and drinks our buttermilk daily. In winter he lies in the caves and
lives on roots and nuts. He has learned no form of speech, neither has
he a name. The forest warden determined not to leave him to endure another
winter on the mountain, so he bade the shepherds to catch and bind the
boy, and he fastened a rope to him and took him back to Trikalæ where
he clothed him, and has done what he can to civilize him. He always keeps
him with himself, or under the care of some one who can talk, because he
seems unable to learn to speak any word, though he imitates the voices
of many wild creatures. Nor does he learn to understand the names of things.
But animal sounds he mimics well, and he has learned to ride. As his real
name is not known his guardian has called him Sciron.
Cornish, C.J. 1897. "The Wild Boy of Pindus" p. 315-323. In: Animals
at Work and Play. Their Activities and Emotions. 2nd ed. London: Seeley
and Co., Ltd.
The Wild Boy of Pindus.
When a Greek newspaper condescends to drop the eternal discussion of the
Eastern Question and chronicle the gossip of the market-place, it is apt
to become intensely interesting to perverse occidental readers. Now and
then in the country news there appears a reprint, in the rough rustic dialect
of a local news-sheet of some tale which gives a faint echo of the old,
old Hellas, and may carry the reader back in a moment to the days of Hesiod
or Herodotus. Let us give, as we find it recently quoted in an Athenian
paper, a tale which comes from Thessaly, of the wild boy on Mount Pindus:--"Demetriades
worthy-of-honour, the warden of the king's forest on Mount Pindus, was
out shooting on the mountain. Being tired, he left the chase of the deer,
and turned up a path which led through a steep glen to some shepherds'
huts, where he hoped to drink a cup of the milk of Pindus, milk which is
famed to be the best of any. While he was walking quietly up the path,
he heard a rustling in the underwood, and stayed to listen. Through the
branches he saw an unknown animal moving very quickly in the same direction
as himself, and made ready to fire at it--να πυροβοληση--but
was stopped by shouts of the shepherds on the hill-side above, who called
to him not to shoot. He then followed this strange creature, which had
the form, indeed, of a man, and was wholly naked; but ran very fast, sometimes
on its feet, but more often on all-fours, and reached the sheep-cote before
him. There he found it eagerly drinking the buttermilk from a trough into
which it had run while the cheeses from the morning milking were being
pressed. When it saw him near, it ran into the wood; and the chief of the
shepherds told him its story. "He is a boy," he said, "a Wallachian, the
son of a Wallachian, who lived at Castania, on Mount Pindus. The man went
back to Wallachia to seek work, and there he married. He lived there some
time, but afterwards came back to Pindus. Six years he was absent, and
he brought back four or five children. Then he died, and left his wife
and children to the 'five roads' (i.e., to fortune). The woman saw no way
of keeping her children in Castania, so she distributed them among her
neighbours, and went back to her own country.
But one of them ran away from the person with whom he was left, and
has lived in this part of the forest for four years. He lives, even as
you saw him, without clothes. In summer he lives well, and drinks our buttermilk
daily. In winter he lies in the caves, and lives on roots and nuts. He
has learnt no form of speech, neither has he a name." The forest warden
determined not to leave him to endure another winter on the mountain; so
he bade the shepherds to catch and bind the boy, and fastened a rope to
him, and took him back to Trikalas, where he clothed him, and has done
what he can to civilise him. He always keeps him with himself, or under
the care of someone who can talk, because he seems unable to learn to speak
any word, though he imitates the voices of many wild creatures. Nor does
he learn to understand the names of things. But animal sounds he mimics
well, and he has learnt to ride. As his real name is not known, his guardian
has called him Sciron."
The reference in the name to the legend of Theseus is very characteristic
of modern Greek sentiment, which preserves unbroken the traditions which
cling to the mountains and glens of old Hellas. But apart from its old-world
setting, the story affords additional and corroborative evidence of the
habits of the very curious and rare animal which, for want of a better
name, we may call Relapsed Man. The Relapsed Man --that is, the man who
has run wild after civilisation --is a wholly different creature from Wild
or Feral Man, who has never been tamed; and in his degeneration seems by
a sudden fall to reach a point far lower, physically and mentally, than
the Fuegians or the Digger Indians. As for the animals, there are very
few of the more intelligent kinds, which, whether in work, play, or general
well-being, could not 'give points' to Relapsed Man. Wherefore the writer
introduces him by way of contrast, the more as Mr Rudyard Kipling's wolf
boy 'Mowzli' [sic] is so charming a boy that if he is allowed to
be taken as a type of all 'wild boys,' we shall soon have someone trying
the experiment of producing them by leaving them in the woods as Mr Weller,
senior, did Sam in the London streets. Unfortunately--or fortunately, as
the reader chooses--Relapsed Man can seldom be studied with the care he
deserves, because he is a scarce and accidental product of unpleasant conditions.
War, famine, pestilence, and wolves are the most favourable means for producing
him, and an overbearing civilisation has made these conditions scarce.
But there exists a body of authoritative evidence on the subject with which
we may compare the case we have quoted, more particularly with reference
to the statement that he was a wild boy, not a wild man; that he went often
on all-fours, and in that posture ran fast; that he ate nuts and roots;
that he sucked up the buttermilk--να ροφα,
the Greek word, is used of the manner in which a horse drinks water, and
it will be found that it is a peculiarity of the Relapsed Man that he does
not drink or lap, but sucks up milk or water in this eager,
swallowing way--that he went naked; and that he had not, and has not, learnt
to talk, but can mimic animal sounds.
Relapsed Man is found in three forms--one, the most marked and least
human, is that which ensues when he has, as a child, been carried off and
kept--often for several years--by a wild animal. This is the acute form
of relapse, and exhibits all the symptoms of the Pindus boy, with several
others, among them a wholly carnivorous appetite, the voice of a wild beast,
extreme ferocity, and a temper quite impossible to humanise. The second
and milder form occurs when a young child has run wild or been deserted,
and manages to keep itself alive without human aid, to which form the case
of the Greek boy belongs. The wild boy of Hanover, found in the last century,
was a similar instance. He ran on all-fours, ate nothing but roots and
nuts, and was without speech. The third form, now very rare in Europe,
but not uncommon in the Ardennes, and other districts where the wolf still
lives, is clearly the result of the mental malady of lycanthropy, sufferers
from which are yearly brought to be touched by the Holy Stole of St. Hubert,
who, if less potent than his votaries imagine to drive the latent poison
of hydrophobia from the tainted blood, can still minister to a mind diseased,
and with mystic and consoling rites cures sufferers who exhibit beyond
a doubt all the worst traits by which Relapsed Man is marked in the completist
form of retrogression. What these characteristics are, may be judged from
the curious and complete instances of the capture of children living in
wolves' dens in the Province of Oude, collected by Colonel Sleeman, the
able officer who took a leading part in the suppression of the Thugs of
India. In the first case, which occurred near the Goomtee River, in a district
where wolves abound, and are never killed by the natives from fear of the
ill-luck which their death will bring upon the village, a native trooper
saw a large she-wolf leave her den, followed by three whelps and a little
boy. The boy seemed on the best possible terms with the old dam and the
three whelps, and the mother-wolf seemed to guard all four with equal care.
They all went down to the river and drank, after which they were chased
by the trooper; but they escaped over rough ground into the den, the boy
running on all-fours quite as fast as the young wolves. The man then got
assistance and dug the whole party out; the wolves and boy bolted together,
and the boy was caught, fastened to a rope, and led to the village. He
could not speak, but growled and snarled like a young wolf, and tried to
bolt into every hole or shelter that was passed. After four days he was
sent to an English officer, Captain Nicholetts. Though kindly treated,
he never learnt to speak, ran away from grown-up people, flew at children
and tried to bite them, and ran to eat his food on all-fours. But he was
friendly with a pariah-dog, and would let it share his food. He would suck
up a whole pitcher of buttermilk without drawing breath apparently. He
never laughed or smiled, and destroyed all clothes given him. Two and a
half years after his capture he died, and just before his death spoke once
or twice, saying his head ached, and pronouncing the word for water. Another
child caught in a wolf's den in the same neighbourhood was even more savage.
He would only eat raw flesh, on which he put his hands as a dog puts its
fore-feet. He drank in the manner mentioned before, and habitually ran
on all-fours, from which his knees and knuckles were quite hard. Though
reclaimed by his mother, he was quite untameable, and at last lived in
the village streets like a pariah-dog, going every night into the jungle.
A third boy, caught near Hasanpur, could walk upright, but preferred to
go on all-fours, and ran so fast in that position that no one could catch
him. He could not talk, but was induced to wear clothes. But he still remained
so inhuman, that few people would keep him for any time; and for three
nights in succession wolves were seen to come up and awake him. In each
case the boy played with the wolves who capered round him and licked him.
We will not attempt to frame a theory from the cases we have quoted.
No doubt it will be open to those who hold with the late Professor Garratt,
that man was the first of the animals to stand upright, and that he has
not yet learned to do this properly, or he would not be subject to spontaneous
internal injuries such as rupture from which quadrupeds are generally exempt,
to see in these accounts instances of a return to a primitive state. Others
will fairly argue that the degradation of Relapsed Man so far transcends
all known instances of man in his lowest natural state, as merely to be
an example of corruptio optimi fessima. But, in any case, we may
infer
from the instances which we have quoted, that Relapsed Man walks and runs
well and by preference on all-fours--cannot speak lives on raw food, fears
his own species, drinks by suction, and, what is perhaps best of all, never
lives to maturity; for all the captures recorded have been those of boys,
not of men.
United States Telegraph (Washington, DC) October 24, 1834, no.
254, p. 1156, col. A
WILD BILL
OR THE MISSISSIPPI ORSON
. It was the lot of that wonderful person, Caspar Hauser, to be emancipated
and tamed among a people every way disposed to note all the peculiarities
of a mind permitted almost to reach maturity, before it had received the
impress of a single effort at training it. This training was then undertaken
by instructors, excited by an enthusiasm of curiosity to trace the first
manifestations of his mind under its new series of impulses. Of coarse,
we have in his case most impressive chapters upon the influence of the
magnificent universe--the green earth, the sun and moon in the blue heavens,
and the grandeur of the starry hosts, when first shown to him. We have
a novel and most striking history of mind under the first impressions of
external nature, and the first lights of instruction.
The annexed brief and unpretending narrative lays no claim to virtues
of this sort. Wild Bill, it is true, was thrown among a people humane and
civilized; but they were pressed by numberless and imperious necessities,
incident to a new settlement in the wilderness. Their condition was too
full of labor, care, and danger to admit of the exercise of curiosity.
Thus they were less disposed to mark the first movements of his mind, after
he had been caught, and the process of the training of society was commenced
upon him.--In a forest full of Indians and wild animals, Wild Bill was
an object of very little higher interest than a tamed bear or panther.
Of course no documents remain to show how he was impressed by the new views
which society presented to his mind. I have even been unable to ascertain
whether any efforts were made to place him in school, or under the influence
of any other instruction or training than that of the new circumstances
in which he was placed.
Although the story may not claim parallel interest with the eloquent
history of mind in the case of Caspar Hauser, it may, nevertheless, fearlessly
present one claim to attraction -- it is literally a matter of fact, without
the slightest admixture of coloring of any sort -- and within the knowledge
of citizens of the highest standing in Mississippi and Louisiana. Judge
Butler, of the latter State, is capable of furnishing many more details
than I have been enabled to obtain. Although I have heard the oral statements
of many persons who have seen the subject of the narrative, I am indebted
mainly for the facts it contains -- with which the statements referred
to uniformly agree -- to one of the first planters in the parish of Rapides,
in Louisiana. He became a temporary resident at Woodvale, a considerable
village in the interior of Mississippi, in 1814. Here he first saw the
boy called Wild Bill, who then resided with a Mr. Benjamin Rollins. He
had at that time made so much progress in learning to converse, that he
was quite intelligible. It is believed that he had then been taken about
eighteen months or two years.
He was secured in the Mississippi swamp, not far from the present site
of Pinckneyville. --The circumstances that led to his being taken, were
these: Some settlers, who had recently settled in that vicinity, saw on
the margin of the swamps the prints of the naked foot of a boy.-- This
led them to closer observation; which soon discovered to them a naked boy,
walking with the gait and in the manner of a hunting animal, on the shore
of one of the lakes that abound in that region. His object was to catch
frogs,-- a species of hunting at which he seemed very expert. When he had
caught them, he devoured them raw. The discoverer attempted to approach
him: but so soon as the wild lad saw him, he fled with the usual terror
of an untamed creature at the sight of a man, towards a lake, into which
he plunged, --diving and swimming with the ease of an amphibious animal.
These occurrences naturally created much interest among the settlers; and
they collected in a body to make an united effort to take him. After hunting
for him for some time, they at length discovered him under a Persimon tree,
eating the fruit. As soon as he observed his pursuers, he fled as before,
doubling the bush like a fox, and making again for the water. Excusing
themselves by their motive, the hunters adopted their usual expedient for
catching animals. They put their dogs on the trail of the strange game.
They soon tired him down, and brought him to bay. --Though no metaphysicians
to form mental theorems out of the case of their new conquest, they discovered
that the two-legged unfeathered creature, had the natural animal instinct
of fight--for he made battle upon dogs and men with the full amount of
courage and ferocity that might be expected to result from his age and
physical strength. But although he fought like any other animal, he was
compelled to yield to numbers, and, was fairly caught and bound. He was
then, it is supposed, not far from nine years old--naked, and perfectly
speechless. His form was slender, but well proportioned, and capable of
extreme agility. His eyes were brilliant; his hair sandy and his complexion
florid; a circumstance which may be accounted for from his having lived
almost entirely in the deep shades of the forest. Woodville was the nearest
considerable settlement, and thither he was carried, for the experiment
of domestication.
Eighteen months, or two years after his capture--the period, as I have
said, when my informant first saw him,--he had still a look perfectly indicative
of his name. He was yet wild, although he could now make himself
understood. It was more difficult to overcome his appetite for raw flesh,
than to learn [sic] him to speak. The love of the excitement of
alcohol, seems to be another common appetite of the man of nature, for
he soon manifested an unconquerable longing for spirits in any form, especially
when rendered very sweet,--upon which he became intoxicated whenever he
had an opportunity. Whether he discovered the usual development of the
other animal propensities, my informant does not know; but he always remained
a wild animal in the fierceness of his temper. When playing with lads of
his age, the moment his passions were roused in any way, his first movement
was to strike them with whatever instrument was nearest at hand. After
his partial domestication, they attempted to put him at work; but he showed
a truly savage disrelish for labor. He was sure immediately to run away;
generally making for the town, where his amusement was to mount on horseback
whenever he was allowed the opportunity. Riding was his passion; and be
would mount every horse in a livery stable in succession, merely for the
pleasure of riding them to water. In other respects he was quick and intelligent.
His appearance was rather agreeable, and in his favor.
The training which he received was either unfavorable to good moral
development, or it had been originally denied him by nature; for he became
quarrelsome, addicted to drunkenness, and not at all a lover of the truth.
Consequently, a great deal of doubt and uncertainty must rest upon his
history of his early recollections; though they were to often repeated,
and so nearly in the same form, as to have gained credence with the people
among whom he lived. He stated that he had a dim remembrance of coming
down the Mississippi with his father's family in a flat boat, --that the
boat landed,--that his father killed his mother and that he fled in terror,
into the swamps, expecting that his father would kill him also; and from
that time he had subsisted on frogs, animals, and berries--living, in warm
weather, among the cane, and in cold weather in a hollow tree.
It is extremely unfortunate that so few details remain of the domestication
and character of Wild Bill; though it is hoped that this imperfect account
may call forth from the persons with whom he lived and died, ampler and
more satisfactory information respecting him. It is believed that he died
when at the age of eighteen or nineteen, that is in the year 1818; after
a domestication of about nine years. Alas! the uneducated and untrained
Man of the Woods is but a kind of forked, straddling animal, very little
superior to what we call the lower animals, and in many respects, far below
them. And, viewing the mass, even in the highest state of freedom and civilization,--seeing
them so readily and wilfully the victims of their ignorance, their prejudices,
and, more than all, their own supposed knowledge and illumination,--seeing,
too, how easily and universally they become the stupid instruments of unprincipled
and ambitious demagogues, one is almost driven to adopt the painful and
humiliating axiom of Dean Swift, that man is not a reasonable animal, but
only capable, under certain circumstances, of becoming such.
Wisconsin State Register (Portage, WI) March 12, 1892, no. 5,
col. G
A CASE OF NATURAL SELECTION.
Wild Boy Reportcd in the Woods in Arkansas, Running with Wolves.
BENTON, Ark., March 7.--It has been reported among the farmers about seven
miles north of this city for some time that a wild boy was living in the
woods on the hills and that he had been seen by several people. Last Saturday
David Williams was coming to this city and as he passed through a dense
woods in the river bottom he saw three wolves running through the brush,
and with them was a strange animal which he could not see very well. He
thought it was very queer and he tied his team and made a still hunt through
the woods to see if he could get another glimpse of it.
Nothing But an Animal
.
He was successful and says it was undoubtedly a boy of about 15 or 16
years. It was perfectly wild, and, while it occasionally got up on its
feet, it ran on its hands and feet. From what he could see it could get
over the ground as fast as the wolves which it accompanied. It seemed to
be familiar with the animals and was evidently part of the band. The boy,
of course, was perfectly naked and showed from its actions that it was
nothing but an animal. Williams said that he watched the boy and wolves
for some time and then hastened from his hiding place and tried to get
close to the group.
Back to Civilization, in Arkansas!
The wolves and boy went through the bush with marvelous celerity and
he could not get near to them. The story has caused much interest here
and a concerted effort will be made to capture the boy and bring him back
to civilization. It is believed that the boy must have been stolen when
a baby by the wolves and that by some chance was nursed by a she wolf instead
of becoming a dinner for the savage animals.
Arbuthnot, John. 1751. "The most wonderful
wonder that ever appeared to the wonder of the British nation, being an
account of the travels of Mynheer Veteranus, through the woods of Germany;
and an account of his taking a most monstrous she-bear, who had nursed
up the wild boy: Their Landing at the Tower, their reception at
court; the daily visits they receive from multitudes of all ranks and orders
of both sexes, with a dialogue between the old she bear and her foster
son, to which is added Viri Humani, Salsi, & Faceti Gulielmi
Sutherlandi, Multarum Artium & Scientiarum, Doctoris Doctissimi,
DIPLOMA -- Written by the Copper-Farthing DEAN." p. 192-200,
231*. In: The Miscellaneous Works of the Late Dr. Arbuthnot. Vol. I. Glasgow:
James Carlile.
*book is mispaginated, page numbered 231 follows p. 200
No People on Earth are so inquisitive, and so fond of Rarities as the
English,
except the Leigois, who by the Conformance of Humour and Manners,
seem to be descended from us; whoever knows their History, and is acquainted
with that of England, will readily give into my Opinion. This I
have thought necessary to say by way of Introduction; for to fall de
but en blanc, as the French say, or as we English, slap
dash, upon the Subject, without preparing our Reader by some little introductory
Discourse to raise his Curiosity, gain his Attention, and bespeak his Favour;
would shew an Author ignorant of the modern Way of Writing. I, who am now
pretending to that Title, shall endeavour to observe all Decorums, and
prove, by the little Treatise I have undertaken, that I aim at nothing
more than giving the Town a polite Entertainment, wherein I shall never
deviate one single Step from the Paths of Truth, which is so strictly followed
by all Writers, since the Example set us by G---- B------, B---- of S------,
that neither Party, Passion, nor private Pique, can make an English
Author guilty of, even an Equivocation. I would be understood, however,
to except Jesuits and Jacobites, for they are known to be incorrigible
in their Hatred to that exemplary pious Man; and so great is their Rage,
that I verily believe, had he ever given into Flattery and Falshood, two
Vices which filled his righteous Soul with Horror, they would have embraced
Truth and Plain Dealing. But it is not my Business here to examine the
Principles of any Party or Faction; nor does it become an Author of a refined
Taste and polite Education, to expose the Faults, Slips, Mistakes, Errors,
or Inhumanity of our Neighbours, or to criticise their Morals.
I fhall therefore come to the Subject Matter, without detaining my Reader
any longer, since I suppose him of himself able to make all necefiary Reflections,
and it would be arrogating to myself a Superiority of Judgment, should
I pretend to make them for him. Be it known then, That Mynheer Veteranus,
a Dutch Gentleman, who keeps a Gin-shop in Amsterdam hearing the
kind Reception the wild Boy met with here in England, and of the
great Care taken for his Instruction in the Principles of the Christian
Faith; thought he could not do a more acceptable Piece of Service to this
generous Nation, than that of enquiring out, and bringing over the Bear
to whom the Care of his Infant State was committed. And knowing that the
generous English would not suffer him to lose either his Pains or
Expences, if he succeeded in his Search and Endeavours to serve them, he
left Amsterdam, resolving to hunt all the Woods of Germany but he
would find her out. To this End, he took a young Child with him, and having
prepared his Toils, towards the Evening, in a certain Forest he made the
Child cry, thinking, that the Nurse being accustomed to these Infant Ejaculations,
would be allured by them. The Success answered his Intentions; for a She
Bear made up to the Place whence the Child's Cries proceeded, and was taken
in the Toils. No sooner had he, with the Men who accompanied him, muzzled
her, so that she could do no Mischief, but he offered the Child to her
Dugs, who she, without Reluctance, nay, with a visible Tenderness, sufferwd
to draw her Milk, and endeavoured, though too straitly muzzled, to caress
it with her Velvet Tongue. Mynheer, to try her farther, took the Child
away; whereat she began to grumble in a frightful Manner; roar she could
not, for the above-mentioned Reason. Mynheer therefore being fully satisfied,
was hoisting her into a Cart brought to carry her off, when he was surprized
by an uncommon Sight, a Child of about two Years old, with his Nose to
the Ground, and followed by some Bears Cubs, came galloping upon all four
in Search of the Dam and Nurse, whom they followed by the Scent. This Sight
made the Dutch Gentleman fear he had not the real Nurse of the English
Wild Boy; but one of his Huntsmen told him it was a Confirmation that she
had nursed the English Gentleman; for, says he, when a Bear has
once brought up an Infant, they grow so fond of Children, that they never
rest contented without one for the Entertainment and Diversion of their
Cubs; and they'll venture their Lives to steal one from the neighbouring
Villages. Satisfied with what he heard, Mynheer Veteranus ordered
the Child and Cubs to be taken, which was no hard Matter, for they would
not quit the Dam. He then made the best of his Way Home, overjoyed, that
he could be so serviceable to the British Nation, (for which the
Dutch
in general have an inviolable Affection, as is demonstrable in all their
Actions) he took Shipping afterwards with his Prize, and safely landed
at Tower-Wharf the first of this Month; though, some have falsely
reported that he was here four Months before. However, he was no sooner
arrived, than he received the Thanks and Compliments of all the Nobility,
who had the Honour of waiting on him, to whom he shew'd this Rarity gratis.
A certain Person of Distinction purchased his whole Cargo, the Bear with
her Cubs and their Foster-Brother; and sending for the Wild Gentleman,
he shewed him the old Bear. The Lad no sooner saw her, but, with Tears
of Joy, he embraced his dear Nurse; who on her Part gave as great Demonstration
of Fondness, hugging him, throwing herself on her Back, and opening her
legs offered him the Tet, which he sucked as heartily as if he had never
been wean'd: He unmuzzled her, and it's impossible to express the Joy which
appeared in the Eyes of both. The Cubs and new-found Infant were brought
in, but the English Gentleman would not suffer them to approach;
and indeed the Fondness the Bear shew'd for the Recovery of her former
Care, made her neglect her Cubs and new Nursling. The Purchafer of her
is a Man of a great Estate, and a Scotch Gentleman (whose Father
is a Merchant of Sloes, Blackberries, Cyder, and Arsenick, in the City)
being by, he desired him to take Care of these Cubs, which the Bear had
neglected, and he would pay him handsomely for their Board. Since which
Time, the Bear has been shewn to all the Court; and we hear that a Den,
in which formerly was kept one of the most monstrous She Bears that ever
the Woods of Germany produced, is now preparing for her Reception.
The Bear's first Fit of Tenderness for her recovered Darling being over,
she seemed by her Looks to enquire for her Young. The English Gentleman,
who is her Interpreter, asked for them by her Orders. They were brought,
and the young Gentleman told his Foster Mother in her own Language, that
great Care should be taken both of her Cubs and Nursling; and that a Gentleman
who was to have an Apartment joining to hers, had the Care of civilizing
and bringing them up; which, as he was a Scotsman by Birth, none
could perform with more Care, Skill, and Tenderness. As the English
Wild Gentleman did me the Honour to interpret to me the dialogue between
him and his Nurse, partly by Words, partly by Signs, I shall here give
it the Reader verbatim without Addition or Diminution.
Bear. My dear human Cub, how have I regretted your Loss, how
could you leave so tender a Mother?
Boy. I was ravished from you, my dear Mother, by the barbarous
Creatures of my own Kind; who have enclosed me, as you see, in these Hides
stript off some innocent Beasts; and deprived me of the natural Use of
my Fore Legs.
Bear. What Title has this Beast which goes erect on two Legs,
contrary to the Order of Nature, to deprive us of our native Liberty?
Boy. The same they have to tyrannize over one another, the Power
to do it. The Beast call'd Man has the Vanity to imagine himself the Head
of the Creation; that every other Creature is subservient to him, and made
by the Sun for his Use; and that he alone has the Benefit of Reason and
Expression.
Bear. I find he is but a very silly Animal. Let him consult Experience
(for Reason I suppose he has none) and see which has most Claim to Superiority,
the Two-leg'd, or the Four-leg'd Beast. Turn a Man loose to me, to a Tiger,
or a Lion, and let him shew his Excellence. He seems to me the most imperfect
Piece of the Creation; for the Sun has given him neither Hair to cover
him, nor Teeth nor Claws to defend him. Has he a Scent to find out his
necessary Food.
Boy. They feed upon Animals weaker than themselves, as Lambs,
Fowls; and, by their Treachery, they kill and eat the Bull and Cow. They
carry it fairly with them, and there is a Sort of Compact between these
Beasts: The Beast Man, in the Summer, cuts the Grass, and lays up Provision
for the Beast Bull against the Winter; and the Beast Bull helps him, by
working, to lay up a Store for himself. But when Man is hungry, he takes
an Opportunity, and kills and eats the undefigning innocent Bull.
Bear. Monstrous! I see the Horse in Friendship with them; are
they as treacherous to him?
Boy. I can't tell; but they tyrannize over him because of their
Numbers; for otherwife, the Horse is much the braver Beast. But they have
an Invention of killing Creatures with Fire; which makes those Beasts who
know them stand in Awe of them.
Bear. Since you have been some time among the Beasts of your
own Species, you are certainly able to give me their Character.
Boy. That's a difficult Matter; for hardly one of them knows
his own; and I have heard Men themselves say, that it is the greatest Wisdom
for a Man to know himself. Man is a very Contradiction; he prides himself
as superior to the other Beasts, and yet when he would exaggerate in his
own Praise, it is by shewing that he is equal to some or other of them
in the Gifts of Nature. Their Companions are with Beasts of different Species
from their own, and when they boast of their Strength, Subtilty, or Innocence,
they immediately allude to the Lion, Serpent and Dove, and so on in all
other Perfections. Man stripped is the most Defenceless and most Sheepish
of all Animals; but when he is decked with Birds' Feathers and Sheep's
Wool, and laid over with a shining Earth, which they adore, as we do the
Sun, and has perfumed himfelf with the Excrements of a Civet Cat,
his Pride makes him look with Contempt on every other Animal; as if the
Pillage of different Beasts had the Power to change his Nature. Their Judgments
are so weak, that they'll put one Man to Death, and extol another to the
Skies, for one and the same Action, The glittering Earth I mention'd is
their God; it is almost of the Colour of the Fox, and so zealous are they
in their Adorations of this their Deity, that they offer one another up
in Sacrifice, in which by mutual Wounds both Priest and Victim fall. They
are so fickle in their Temper, that they resolve one thing this Minute,
and the contrary the next; and their Hatred is so violent when provoked,
that they will wish the moft cruel Mischiefs even to themselves; nay, they
go farther, and put themselves to Death.
Bear. Ridiculous Animal which pursues Annihilation; but I observe
there is a Subordination among them: For one Man I see is followed and
attended by a Number of others who obey his Orders. Is that Man stronger
or wiser than his Fellow Beasts, that he has so many Jackals about him?
Boy. Not at all. 'Tis very probable he is the weakest of the
Pack.
Bear. Whence then this Observance?
Boy. He is bless'd with the Favour of their God: You must know
their Deity is divided into innumerable small Particles, and he who possesses
the greatest Number of these, is the most honoured by the rest of his Species,
and followed and waited on by them, to gather up such Parcels as he is
obliged from time to time to scatter: For such is the Nature of their God,
that it cannot rest long contented in one Place; tho' a Man whom the Sun
killed not long since, had chained and fettered their great God of all,
which they call by the Name of Million; this God of theirs I never
saw. I can give you no farther Account, having been so small a Time among
them, and not as yet well enough acquainted with their manner of Expression;
for they use many Words to which they join no Idea. These are I fancy imaginary
Deities; as Justice, Honour, Religion, Truth, Friendship, Loyalty, Piety,
Charity, Mercy, Publick Good, and many others which commonly fill their
Discourse; but what is meant by 'em I cannot yet discovcr, tho' I have
a strong Notion they have no Meaning at all; and are only employed to give
a Grace to their Conversation, because they found pleasant to the Ear,
and run glibly off the Tongue.
Bear. But what do these Human Beasts keep me here for?
Boy. I believe it is to admire you; for you may observe a great
Number come to look at you. They take me to be Something above their own
Species, for the finest of the Men will caress me; but it's not strange,
I have had the Advantage of your Tongue to lick me into form, and your
Milk to rear me. There is one Thing which will make you Wonder; The she
Man carries about her the Skin of the Virile Instrument, but to what End
I can't find out.
Bear. If it is to admire me, well and good; for they can't do
it without abating very much of the Opinion they conceive of themselves:
But I shall not long be easy under this Confinement; for tho' I am treated
with no harsh Usage, and even as the more Noble Beast, for they attend
and provide for me without any Care on my Side.
Boy. It is this I believe makes the Horse and Dogs suffer the
Insults they meet from Man; for all things rightly consider'd, Man who
provides for the Horse's Sustenance, who keeps him clean, carries away
his Dung, and waits upon him when he has any Ailment, is no more than Slave
to the generous Beast. As to the Dog, I have seen the She Men treat him
with so much Care, Tenderness and Deference, that I am apt to think they
worship him; they take him into their Bosoms, kiss, fondle and caress him,
provide the best Entertainment for him; serve him before themselves; and
never suffer him to set his Foot to the Ground, but carry him in their
Arms, and are diligent Attendants on him. They pay the same Respect to
the Monkey. I was one Day in Conversation with one, who told me he thought
himself happy that he had such a Number of careful Slaves, who even prevented
his Wishes, and provided so well for him not only all the Conveniencies
of Life, but also what might gratify the Senses; that he was satisfy'd,
the rest of his Species, had they a true Notion of Men, wou'd condescend
to converse with and take upon 'em the Government of that passive Animal.
This is the Monkey's Way of thinking; tho' Man thinks quite differently,
and boasts that the Monkey is his Slave.
Bear. Why? does the Monkey do any thing for Man?
Boy. Nothing but when the Monkey laughs at the ridiculous Actions
of that Beast, he laughs again' at his Gestures: The Monkey I just now
mention'd found but one Fault with his Condition, which is (said he,) my
Slaves are so incorrigibly stupid, that when they do anything to displease
me, and I shew my Resentment by Gesticulation, for I don't know their Language,
they immediately fall a laughing.
Their Discourse was here interrupted by some Company; for the Bear wou'd
not seem too free with the Boy lest Man might have a mean Opinion of her
for the Condescension.
