CHAPTER XVII 



CINEMATOGRAPHY AND PHOTOGRAPHY 



THE equipment of an explorer and collector in these 

 days cannot be considered complete without a cine- 

 matograph outfit as well as one for still photography. 

 I therefore decided some years ago to take up this new art, 

 to record and to reveal to others some of the secrets that 

 wild and savage Nature hides so securely from all save those 

 who seek her treasures in remote corners of the world. As 

 I was a novice with a " movie " camera it may be of interest 

 to some to know how I fared. 



Let me say at once that as a money-making scheme I 

 found the taking of moving pictures of wild life a failure. 

 Possibly on account of the cinematograph trade being 

 proverbially a " close " one and held by a ring of Jews, or 

 maybe because the market is flooded with such pictures, or 

 because of the lack of business training in myself, or the 

 somewhat depraved public taste in pictures ; in any case, 

 whatever the cause, I have never received one penny in 

 return for several hundred pounds spent on the work. I 

 have received offers for some of my films, but of such a 

 nature that, as I told one Hebrew, I would sooner burn the 

 lot than dispose of any at such a price. 



Wild life subjects have an immense appeal to the travelled 

 and scientific classes, but their numbers are comparatively 

 few, therefore it is that the taking of Nature pictures in 

 savage lands is unlikely to become anything more, at present, 

 than an expensive hobby for the amateur. 



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