Jungle Doctor Meets a Lion

The Jungle Doctor #6

by Paul White

The smell of lion around the campfire warns the Jungle Doctor of danger and when he comes across a trail of blood his fears are confirmed. Someone has been attacked by Simba, the Lion, and is in desperate need of medical treatment. Jungle Doctor finds a man who has killed a lion in single combat, but who has been terribly mauled in the fight. Jungle Doctor saves his life with a blood transfusion from Perisi, a young African girl who is training to be a teacher in the Mission School. during his long convalescence, Simba, the lion killer, finds his life filled with two great joys -- the knowledge of Christ as his Saviour, and the mutual love of himself and Perisi.

But Perisi's father, Mafuta, has other plans. He betroths his daughter to a rich heathen Chief. Meanwhile, Simba has gone to live by himself in a jungle village to prove by his life the reality of his Christian profession.

Genres: Childrens, Christian

128 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1950

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Paul White was an Australian missionary doctor in Africa who learned to clothe his Bible teaching in fables, creating stories with a timeless quality. When he returned home to Australia his stories were discovered and published to world-wide acclaim.

Reviews

[Grace Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read this series a couple of times when I was younger, and this was one of my favorites. So when I was trying to convince my younger sister to read the series and therefore inspired myself to reread them, I started with this one since they don't have to be read in much order. I love the story between Simba and Perisi in this book<3 These books are not just for children. (Actually, when I first tried reading them at age 9(?) I got a little confused, and didn't come back to the series for a few years... but then I loved them so...)

[Roberta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jungle Daktari anaokoa mtu ambaye amekuwa kuumwa na simba. [Jungle Doctor rescues a man who has been mauled by a lion.] Jungle Doctor uses his super powers: prayer and miti [medicine], in the form of a life-saving blood transfusion. But, when his patient falls in love with the blood donor, the course of love does not run smooth. The girl has been bitten by a ndorobo [tsetse fly] and is on the verge of death. If she survives, her father has already agreed to sell her to the rich and powerful Chief Makaranga. Jungle Doctor tells his patient to pray that everything will turn out OK.

Meanwhile there are lots of adventures and spine-tingling suspense as Jungle Doctor tries to bring God and modern (actually 1930's) medicine to the primitive Mugogo tribesmen who, until now, have been depending on the curative powers of herbs, mafuta du simba [lion fat], and cow dung used by the Muganga [the witch doctor].

The text is liberally sprinkled with words in the Swahili and Chigogo languages. A few will be familiar from Tarzan movies (Bwana, safari, and simba) and there are others that I like the sound of and may even use: dudu [bug], Kumbe! [behold!], Jambo [good day].

The Mugogo people in the book are generally treated respectfully, considering that Jungle Doctor was working in Tanganyika in the late 1930's, not in the present day. The exception might be the witch doctor, since he was offering opposition to both Christian teachings and modern medicine.

It is interesting that the Mugogo people considered the girl in the book to be valuable chattel, worth as much as 30 head of cattle to parents or guardians. So the groom was expected to compensate the bride's family. Bride price is payment by the groom or his family to the bride's parents. In contrast, in some countries (like the United States back in the day), a daughter represented a major financial liability because it was the father of the bride who provided a dower for the bride, which generally consisted of items suitable to start a young couple off in married life: the bride's clothing and home furnishings, and/or a dowry to the groom or to his family. Depending on the wealth of the bride's family, dowries expected by the groom's family were sometimes quite extravagant and might have included a house, acreage, cattle, and cash.