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Sleeman, William, 1788-1856

"II"

He says that he never himself sent any letter to
Sanaollah with the mother of the boy, but his brother or some other
relation of his may have written one for her.
It is remarkable that I can discover no well-established instance of
a man who had been nurtured in a wolf's den having been found. There
is, at Lucknow, an old man who was found in the Oude Tarae, when a
lad, by the hut of an old hermit who had died. He is supposed to have
been taken from wolves by this old hermit. The trooper who found him
brought him to the King some forty years ago, and he has been ever
since supported by the King comfortably. He is still called the "wild
man of the woods." He was one day sent to me at my request, and I
talked with him. His features indicate him to be of the Tharoo tribe,
who are found only in that forest. He is very inoffensive, but speaks
little, and that little imperfectly; and he is still impatient of
intercourse with his fellow-men, particularly with such as are
disposed to tease him with questions. I asked him whether he had any
recollection of having been with wolves. He said "the wolf died long
before the hermit;" but he seemed to recollect nothing more, and
there is no mark on his knees or elbows to indicate that he ever went
on all fours. That he was found as a wild boy in the forest there can
be no doubt; but I do not feel at all sure that he ever lived with
wolves.


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