"Action!"
Oil on panel, 12x16"
Price on request
Paul Raney and his hunting party were
out in the bush hunting lions with their dogs, when a stray lioness
came bounding towards camp. There was an escari (soldier) on
duty, defending camp, who took aim and fired at the approaching
beast using his single shot Martini Henry rifle, and brought
it down. However, he had only maimed it and was getting ready
to reload when he heard a voice shout Dont Shoot!
It was J.C. Hemment a photographer and member of Raineys
party. Hemment wanted to make a moving picture of a lion charging
the camera, and saw this as his opportunity. While the lion
lay injured some fifty yards away Hemment set up his camera ready
to film. He needed to encourage the animal to charge so he asked
one of the camp boys to throw a stone to attract its attention.
It was at this time that Rainey and famed white hunter, Allen
Black, returned to camp and noticed what was about to happen.
Hemment reassured the concerned Allen Black that the lioness
was harmless, as she had already been shot. Black watched skeptically
as the lioness lashed her tail from side to side in anger. The
boy threw the stone, and the lioness watched as it bounced passed
her. In one swift movement she rose and looked directly at Hemment,
who was now cranking the camera, and charged with such terrific
speed that Black hardly had time to step forward, raise his gun
and fire at the bounding beast. Black was a superb marksman
and hit her squarely in the head and she went down nose first,
the momentum bringing the dead animal to within four feet of
Hemment and his camera. Visibly shaken by the experience, Hemment
came to terms with what nearly happened and how foolhardy he
had been. He swore never to undertake anything like this again
unless one of the hunters stood by him with a gun.
This very day Rainey and his party bagged
nine lions using their hunting dogs, mainly fox hounds, with
a total haul of twenty-seven lions in six weeks.
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