A RIDE ON A LION

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 169, 12 April 1930, Page 28

A RIDE ON A LION

Abdullah of Nairobi, as far as is known, is the only man in Africa who has ridden astride a lion, and lived to tell the tale. Others will tell the tale by many a

lIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII campfire that is lit by night to scare the lions away, but the most grateful narrator will be Abdullah's employer, Major Mathews. He was out hunting near Kagera, and Abdullah’s feat saved his life. The hunter had emptied both barrels of his rifle at a lion and lioness. The lion was brought down. The lioness, despite a wound, charged her assailant, carried him off his feet, and stood over him ready to finish him. The brave headman, Abdullah, rushed to the disabled hunter’s help, and actually jumped astride the lioness, diverting her attention from Major Mathews, who rolled over to his rifle, which had been knocked out of his hand, rammed in a cartridge, and shot the lioness at close quarters. The strangest filing about the combat is that Abdullah emerged from it without a scratch, though Major Mathews was badly mauled.