PHOTOGRAPHING LIONS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 101, 27 April 1912, Page 16

PHOTOGRAPHING LIONS.

) WEIRD ADVEN- . I TURES. I Mr. A. Radelyffe Dugmore, FJtfiJS* I lecturing in Edinburgh on "Stalking Big ; Came with a Camera.'' gave accounts of . I ~ome exciting experiences which he bad ' had in different parts of the world when ! securing photographs of wild animals in ,1 their native haunts. When dealing with i the more dangerous creatures, the .: method adopted was for the operator Ito -land with the camera while a com- : panion stood ready with the loaded ri3e |in case of a surprise. '. On one occasion Mr. Dugmore tras , charged by a rhinoceros. He got a phoI tograph of it in full -career when it was ,i within fifteen yards of him. Buckshot; ''and a soft bullet failed to tarn the am'jmal, and Mr. Dugmore's companion ! .lanced about in front of it and emptied ! his revolver into its face at a range c--1 ! from three to six yards. This did not ' 1 upset the mon.-ter in the least, and Mr. Diitrmore had an anxious moment before ! a Masai attendant drove a spear eighteen " inches into its side and diverted it. The same native had killed a lion singlehanded with the :-ame spear two weeks ! previously. ; FLASHLIGHT EFFECTS. i The manner of photographing lions ' was as follows;—A zebra carcase was ' used as a bait, cameras being concealea , i behind l>arriers of branches. On the : third night of watching the lecturer said that with his ear to the ground he /was able to di-tinjruish the dull thai '.of a lion's walk. At first he could see 'jnothini. but he .gradually made out a huge lion staring at him. He pressed tbe 'trigger of the flashlight, which frightened .the lion terribly. He went off to a dis- ; tame of two or three hundred yard* i and stayed there for over an hour telling them what he though: of them. , Another night, as they were watching ; at the spot chosen a lioness came, fol- ■'■ lowed a little later by three others, mat- . ing a curious -crunching sound The be•j turer said he would like to give his andi- . j fence some idea of the horror of that j kind of work. After the flash went they i had t.i move out into the darkness and . take out the plate which had been ex- | posed, sprung the camera for the -ex» I flash. A mail hand-light they carried moved up and down and every shadotr ■ looked like a lion. I HORRIBLE GROWLING. The worst part of it all was the hor- ! ri';,!,' growling that went on tbe whole ! mc. One lion kept walking backwards ! aim forwards at their rear and he corno j distinctly hear its breathing. The other : three kept up an incessant growling «" front of then; for a couple of hoars. 'Suddenly the.- n.ade a bound at bun, 'ha: turned off when within five y*nfc rang-. ■ Mr. Dugmore had shown one of ha ; lion photographs to Mr. Selous. the weui known hunter, who said thai the lee- : tnrer did 'tot know how nearly dead M I had been when he took thai picture. The lion had one of its forepixs raiser! «* a spring, ■-~! by his etc Mr. S-!°f knew that i: was only the ilashligh' ! which had stopped him. The pictare I gave the lion the appearance of bent? i fat. which was due to his- taking a I° D I breath.