"In
the Thick"
Oil on panel, 16x20"
Price on request
The dashing Austrian, Fritz Schindelar,
atop his impressive white polo pony, was about to ride into the
history books, one last time. The mysterious Fritz was renowned
for his daring and some of his exploits had become legendary.
Known for his spotless white breaches, waxed moustache and shiny
boots, he was a womanizer who had become the epitome of the name,
white hunter. He had been prepared to take risks
few other hunters dared to take and somehow came through unscathed.
But on this day his luck would run out.
Paul Rainey had been invited to British
East Africa in 1912 by Lord Delamere to help rid the Colony of
man-eating lions. The settlers were constantly at odds with marauding
lions, and visitors to the Colony were encouraged to bag as many
as they could. Paul Rainey, with the help of E.R. M. Shelley,
had brought over packs of hunting dogs, some bear hounds, some
mongrel fighting dogs and even fox hounds from America. Raineys
safari had bagged more lions than any other but his activities
were now being criticized for being unsportsmanlike. The lions
would be brought to bay by the dogs, and then ,while their attention
was taken by the snarling and yapping, the hunters would pick
them off with ease and without risk.
Throughout his long safari, Rainey had
wanted some moving pictures of a charging lion coming towards
his hand-cranked camera. The photographer, J.C. Hemment, had
attempted to get some footage for Rainey and would have been
killed in the process if Alan Black hadnt stepped in and
shot the charging lion at Hemments feet. Rainey had asked
most of the top hunters at that time to help him in this endeavor.
They all thought it to be foolhardy and wanted nothing to do
with the idea, having recognized the folly. But Fritz Schindelar,
true to form, agreed to help him.
Rainey must have been flushed with success
when he returned to Naivasha having bagged some twelve lions
in almost as many days using his dogs. Indeed, he would go on
to kill more in one year than Selous did in his lifetime. He
was now going to attempt his filming and had hired Schindelar
to help.
Rainey was set up with his camera on
some high ground. A lion had been driven from cover and was temporarily
brought to bay by the dogs. But the lion broke free from the
circle of dogs and headed for more cover. The gallant Fritz gave
chase to the lion in the hope of guiding it back towards Rainey
and his camera. Fritz followed close behind the lion as it headed
into even deeper cover. After some time, he could no longer see
the lion; but he roughly knew its whereabouts. He rode near to
its presumed location in the hope of drawing it out, but after
several passes, this wasnt working. So he drew his rifle
and went cautiously further into the thick bush; he was confident
his well-schooled pony would be able to turn fast and get up
to speed should the lion charge. But the lion was closer and
faster than he expected. It sprang from cover with an unbelievable
burst of speed, and as Fritz turned his mount, the lion swung
and clawed its haunches, knocking it to the ground. Schindelar
was thrown from the pony but miraculously landed on his feet
still holding his double rifle. The lion was only a few paces
distant and coming on fast; Schindelar aimed and fired as quickly
as possible but he missed. The lion grabbed him by the stomach
and in anger shook the hapless hunter like a rag doll before
casting him to the ground, mortally wounded.
Unfortunately, this day, Fritz Schindelar
assumes the dubious distinction of becoming the first to die
as a result of making a film.
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