LION AND CAMERA.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 207, 10 December 1910, Page 9

LION AND CAMERA.

In a short time (states the London Daily News) there will be shown at the various picture theatres throughout tie country a remarkable series of films depicting lion hunting as practised by tke natives in the African jungle. These who sit in their comfortable arm chair* and enjoy the pictures in safety will not, perhaps give much thought to how they have been obtained. Yet the story a,s told by Mr. Cherry Ivearton is as full of excitement .as any book of adventure. Mr. Kearton, who is well known as a photographer of wild 1 animals, has just returned from an expedition to British East Africa undertaken expressly for the purpose of securing the pictures*. With no other weapon than his cinematograph camera, and with a following of some twenty Masai warriors, armed with spears, Mr. Kearton succeeded in obtaining moving pictures of no fewer than twenty lion hunts—from the moment of "surprising" the beasts to their final despatch. "Our expedition lasted six weeks." said Mr. Kearton. "With myself and the Masai warriors was the Hon. Berkley Cole. My wife also accompanied us, but, of course, we kept her at a safe distance when the lions were about. Naturally, the difficulties in the way of procuring pictures were very considerable, and to add to them I was stricken with fever practically throughout the whole of the six weeks.

''We were desirous of getting pictures of lion-spearing, for as a spectacle this is undoubtedly much more fascinating and exciting than the civilised method of shooting with a rifle. We encountered most of the lions near Mount Ivenia, which is right on the Equator. LIONS THAT CHARGED. "Our work was done this way: The natives would locate a lion, and my plan would then be to form them in a halfcircle round the spot where the animal lay. I, myself, would take up a position facing the half-circle of Masais, who would then slowly advance and drive the animal towards the camera. On each si<fe of me I always had a spearman ready with his -weapon in case of accidents, but the warriors in front were never found wanting. If they had been, it would probably have been all up with me, for the spears of my two guards would not have been sufficient to stop a lion if one had rushed upon me. "Only on two occasions did a lion charge at me, and then each time he rushed up to within a few yards of me, then stopped, and turned to face again the advancing Masai. The natives invariably threw their spears with wonderful force and accuracy, but I have seen a lion with as many "spears through 'his body as the average pin-cushion has pins, and yet -he could show fight." During many of the hunts Mr. ICearton was so weak from the fever that he had to be carried to the spot where the lion lay on his camp bed, when he managed to summon up sufficient enel'gy to get up and take a picture of the "kill." DIGNITY AND IMPUDENCE. Mr. Kearton told a good story of his little fox-terrier, Simba, which accompanied him throughout his travels. "I ( bought the little beggar at the Dogs' Hone at Battersea for four shillings," lie said, "but I would not sell him for forty pounds now. It was he who really got the first lion. I was afraid at first that if I let him join in the hunt the Masai might spear him, but they promised not to, so I let him go. The lion was in a thicket, and the little dog found him before the natives did. We could hear the tiny yap, yap, of the terrier mingling with the fearsome roar of the lion. At test the lion could not stand it any longer. It rushed out of the thicket, the natives' spears did their work, and I got my picture. "It is a noticeable feature of these Masai spear hunts that warriors do not speak" or make any sound until the lion is actually killed. Then they break into rejoicings, and the man who" reaches the dead animal first claims the black tip of the tail as a trophy. On this occasion the tip of the tail belonged' to p Simba, but ■aa] .lia could not. app«<aate.Jta*,giffcrij&