SOURCE: "Allan's Wife" by H. Rider Haggard (1889)

DESCRIPTION: "Suddenly the woman bounded at least three feet into the air and caught one of the spreading boughs in her large flat hands; then came a swing that would have filled an acrobat with envy—and she was on it. "Now there is an end," I thought again, for the next bough was beyond her reach. But again I was mistaken. She stood up on the bough, gripping it with her bare feet, and once more sprang at the one above, caught it and swung herself into it. I suppose that the lady saw my expression of astonishment. "Do not wonder, sir," she said, "Hendrika is not like other people. She will not fall." I made no answer, but watched the progress of this extraordinary person with the most breathless interest. On she went, swinging herself from bough to bough, and running along them like a monkey. At last she reached the top, and began to swarm up a thin branch towards the ripe fruit." ("Allan's Wife" by H. Rider Haggard)

NOTES: Rescued from baboons as a child, Hendrika never lost many of their mannerisms. Her ability to climb trees is amazing. Hendrika also understand both English and some African languages. Called Babyan (Baboon) by most people, Stella treats Hendrika with kindness. The woman raised by baboons has a stalker's fondness for Stella which ends in her death.

HISTORY: The parallel's with this character and Mowgli are interesting. While Kipling's boy raised by animals is noble and heroic, Haggard's woman is basically psychotic. She's no Tarzan.

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