THROUGH AFRICAN WILDS

Waipa Post, Volume 43, Issue 3392, 24 December 1931, Page 2 (Supplement)

THROUGH AFRICAN WILDS

FILMING A POOL FULL OF CROCODILES.

EXPEDITION HAS PLENTY OF EXCITEMENT.

Exciting incidents during an attempt to film a pool teeming with crocodiles are described in the fourth instalment of the diary of Mr W. S. Van Dyke, the leader of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer expedition which penetrated the jungles of Central Africa to film “ Trader Horn.” Mr Van Dyke also tells of how the members of the expedition had to contend with a smaller, but equally dangerous, menace—the dreaded tsetse fly. No. 4. (Published by arrangement with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.)

MURCHISON FALLS (Uganda), June 17.—This afternoon, being one of leisure, I have devoted myself to a careful study of the home life of the African insect. We have succeeded in completing all our filming at this location, with the exception of the crocodile pool, which is still in the process of construction, and will not be ready for another four or five days. In the meantime we have nothing to do but keep fresh bait in the pool and pray for clear weather on the day when the crocodiles are all assembled and everything is ready for the cameras. It is a sad but true fact that one who travels in Africa must become acquainted with the insects abiding therein, regardless of one's personal views on the subject. They refuse to be ignored. I, for instance, had been sent to Africa to make a picture, not to study entomology. And yet I had been in the country but a few hours when I was devising ways and means whereby I could impede the progress of the African mosquito in his search for provender. Ever since I have becdme increasingly interested in the daily movements of the various many-legged friends who sport so playfully about one's face and neck and drop so coyly into one's morning tea. And in my studies I have yet to find an insect that does not bite. There may be some in Africa, but they have refused any association with me. WASP IN TYPEWRITER.

branches of any and all African trees and falling on to the exposed portions of those seated below. His first impulse is to chew the offending human to bits—an operation which he performs with thoroughness and alacrity. The only retreat from the variety of bites which make up a day in Africa is to retire into the mosquito net. To date no effective method of combating this defensive has been evolved by the insects of the camp. lam anticipating nightly the formation of an alliance with some camp bed-bugs who can be imported to carry forward the good work of the mosquitoes, flies, and wasps. WHITE ANTS. I have failed to include in this, my life work on entomology, any reference to a thousand other insects who have left their marks upon me, whose identity I have failed to recognise, or whose names I didn't quite catch. There is a variety of white ant, for instance, and a small spider, and a yellow jacket. I shall leave them to the gentlemen who came here expressly to see them, and remain, as we say in Hollywood, in my own department. To-morrow, God willing, I shall depart down river to try my luck at hunting big game. By the kindness of Pete Pearson, the game ranger who was with us till yesterday, I have been granted permission to kill occasional game in the preserve. No telling what we'll find. There is an abundance of elephant, buffalo, and hippo in the vicinity, and I will depend upon Major Dickinson, one of the white hunters, to direct me to it. 50 CROCODILES. July 8. We are breaking camp to-day, preparatory to leaving for Rhino camp to-morrow. Our filming here is completed, and we have sent to the laboratory what I am satisfied is the finest photography of crocodiles in the history of the game. It has taken more than a month. There have been times when I felt sure the sun would never shine again (literally and figuratively), when the possibility of filming a live crocodile loomed as impossible as finding a dead elephant, when I cursed myself for wasting valuable time in a vain cause. But today the sun shines (literally and figuratively), our dampened spirits are warped back to normalcy, and the entire company is rejoicing in the knowledge that, despite weeks of discouragement and delay, the means have been justified in the result.

When I sat down to the typewriter this afternoon, for example, I was puzzled to find the lower row of keys would not function. Turning the machine over, I saw to my great horror that a wasp had constructed his nest inside the key rack. Even as I looked there began a great buzzing and fluttering in the mud ball, and an enormous wasp—at least two inches long—flew out directly into my face. He had done me the honour of designing to build in my typewriter, and I had been so unappreciative as to question his right to the property. Well, he would show me who owned that house!

I succeeded with some difficulty in driving him out of my tent with a fly-swatter and destroying his nest, which was attached to the most vital parts of my machine with a substance which I took to be cement.

v For the rest of the day the same wasp insisted upon returning to the scene of the disaster, taking a sorrowful look at the site of his erstwhile residence, and then steering a course for my right eye, veering

At 8 o'clock on the evening of July 5, a native rushed into camp with word that there were at least 50

at the last moment, but leaving my mind shattered and unfit for further ■work W the, -typewriters ''■%■■:':' - BIG STING. lii-the moments of boredom between visits from the, wasp, my friend the "tsetse fly did His best to keep me occupied. Ha is air-'animal, no insect could bile does. He alights without avousinjr his victim's notice, ■and of an inch long lance into one's anatomy at any spot, clothes' or, otherwise, before one can kill;him. It is a fool-proof combinati|n;o;y/You can't Heel him until.he stihg%-and then-it's too late. • And . it's next to impossible to hit him, even if you' see him flight. On the wing the tsetse fly makes a sharp > humming; noise, much the same noisy; house fly, so that until > to rest there is no method of, determining whether or not danger is abroad. When he does pause; for a moment, it is an easy matter ;tQ identify him by the.' fact that overlap and lie flat ojj his back in a straight line, one on top of the other. ing Murehison Falls, there is alleged ; to be about one .chance in that the tsetseJijQjllthat has just Snished biting carrier oi* rJeepof us has been pictured at: in tbe fswo we'ekswe've been but it twill be eight months before 3ymL :n ot ifppfear.. ;':Like"ltnag^^Bqe: I c-x tjifi building", '"' So Tar,...ao' : ':g ; (|JMfcj||

crocodiles iri the pool, feasting on a dead hippo, which, by that time, had attained ?the stage of decomposition most pleasing to the crocodile palate. If there were 50 in there at 8 o'clock, there would be 50 more by 12, I reasoned.- .' A little before 12 we set out—five of I 'us,-with'gun-bearers and natives. Arriving iat the pool we were greeted by. the_ most amazing sight I have ever witnessed. The water was actually teeming with crocodiles! It iwas/impossiblie to flash a light any ; without striking a dozen pairsiof gleaming red eyes. The hippo; carcase; was surrounded by a churning, thrashing mass of the monsters fighting over the choice morsels. . '• Every few. minutes a great heddv wpiild rear out of the water, chewc^ree-times, swallow, and submerge again. And the presence of our lights seemed'!to bother them not at all. 'Without further/ delay, two of us extinguished bur lights and made our way around to the gate, which was in readiness to be dropped over the only entrance and exit. This we did in a few moments without misj *;ap, lashing the gate' in place wiih h< n vy 'rope anil pianovwire. With this accomplished, thejire appeared to be nothing left stand guard until morning. Nobody, to my knowielge, hn ever tested the•:■' strength ! of the croccdiio, arid while the fence | v.re.^i^tl constructed was the strongit^cp'of-:,-:;.: under- the circumstances, iy?'- precedent: to assure us' Kbujd withsti.Md •"hem,-or they £-.'burrow under ov climb over

line lamps, flashlights, and spotlights available. These I had mounted on the fence at ten-yard intervals around the enclosure, supplemented at the four corners with large bonfires. Each European was armed with a revolver, and a long gasoline flare, with which he could reach over the fence in case of a concerted movement in any spot. Two of the hunters with me had brought .22 calibre rifles, and I posted them at the points of greatest dangers—the gate, and the inlet of In this fashion we settled down, at about 1.30, to guard our catch until morning. It was an eerie sight indeed. The fence outlined in red flares and lantern light, the gleam of red eyes within, the sound of tearing flesh and the terrific splash of tails as they hit the water, the low undertone of the natives singing the song of the " mamba" crocodile or snake (the same word applies to both), the insufferable odour of the decayed hippo. ANXIOUS MOMENTS.

At a little after two in the morning my flashlight revealed the head of a crocodile pointed for the gate in front of me, swimming for shore. There is about 15 feet of land between the water and the fence at that point which the animal would have to cross before reaching the gate. I called to the hunters and reached for some large rocks at my feet. In a flash every spotlight was focussed on him, and we began bombarding him with rocks. We might as well have thrown pillows; he failed to pay the slightest attention. I was on the point of reaching for another rock when he gave a sudden swish of his tail and lurched out of the water, straight for the gate. One of the hunters fired his .22 straight into the beast's face with no apparent effect—still he came on. Without stopping for a moment, he rushed directly into the fence, hitting it a resounding crash with his nose. I held my breath, and moved back a few paces, drawing my revolver. The fence shook and bent, but quickly sprang back into place. The crocodile backed off and stood still opening his mouth at least a yard. By this time most of the natives had reached the scene with their flares, and were leaping over the fence, sticking them in the animal's face. ' After what seemed to be an hour he turned slowly and slipped back into the water. The heat was too much for him apparently. I heaved a great sigh of relief and subsided on to a rock to continue the vigil. ORGANISED WARFARE.

Before morning we were charged eight times in various parts of the enclosure, and the method of defence became after a time highly organised warfare. The animal was sighted before he reached land, and the cry of " mamba " was raised by the nearest native. Immediately everyone grabbed a flare, lit it in the bonfire nearest, and proceeded to the spot. If rocks and the .22's failed to turn the crocodile, the flares usually proved effective after he had hit the fence once or twice.

At daybreak we left the small guard and returned to camp. The remaining members of the company, hearing of the battle in progress, were anxious to lend a hand, and proceeded to the pool. Cameras were loaded and taken to the set to be ready when the sun appeared before things were in readiness to " shoot." At noon I was awakened. The sky was overcast and it looked like rain. Would Fate defeat me in this instance? It would be a matter of only a day or two until the hippo carrion would be eaten, and the crocodiles would become desperate with hunger. In such a contingency it would be foolhardy to venture inside the fence, and none of the scenes of the pictures could be shot. I was about as discouraged as I have been at any time on the trip. All afternoon the sun was blanketed behind clouds, and it became a certainty that no shooting would be possible that day. USE REVOLVERS. Before dinner I divided the troupe into two shifts, one to work from 8 p.m. to 12 midnight, the other to go on from 12 and stay until 4 a.m., and the first to return until dawn. I put in the 12 to. 4 group all those who had most to do in the actual filming of the picture, so that they would not be too worn out. I also had transported to the pool two large automobile spotlights, with a storage battery from the wireless. Through most of the night more complete organisation existed than on the evening previous. With the powerful lights it was possible to anticipate the charges of the crocodiles when they were well away from shoi'e. We found that if they were hit squarely in the nose with the .22 before they had reached shore there was little danger of a charge. If they are close by, however, and have decided to rush the fence, there is nothing less than a high-powered rifle that will /stop them. Once, during the 12 to 4 watch, three crocodiles charged simultaneously and at the same point. Flares, rocks and the .22's were of no avail—they had the confidence of numbers. In desperation, we finally drew our revolvers and empted them into the big reptiles as they struck the fence. After 20 shots had been fired, two of them fell over dead and one turned back into the pool. (To be Continued.)