200 A Trip on the Prairie. 



clay or a burnt stick ; and after being once or twice disap- 

 pointed he is apt to rush to the other extreme, and conclude 

 too hastily that a given object is not an antelope, when it 

 very possibly is. 



During the morning I came in sight of several small 

 bands or pairs of antelope. Most of them saw me as soon 

 as or before I saw them, and after watching me with in- 

 tense curiosity as long as I was in sight and at a distance, 

 made off at once as soon as I went into a hollow or 

 appeared to be approaching too near. Twice, in scanning 

 the country narrowly with the glasses, from behind a shel- 

 tering divide, bands of prong-horn were seen that had 

 not discovered me. In each case the horse was at once 

 left to graze, while I started off after the game, nearly 

 a mile distant. For the first half mile I could walk up- 

 right or go along half stooping ; then, as the distance 

 grew closer, I had to crawl on all fours and keep behind 

 any little broken bank, or take advantage of a small, dry 

 watercourse ; and toward the end work my way flat on 

 my face, wriggling like a serpent, using every stunted sage- 

 brush or patch of cactus as a cover, bare-headed under the 

 blazing sun. In each case, after nearly an hour's irksome, 

 thirsty work, the stalk failed. One band simply ran off 

 without a second's warning, alarmed at some awkward 

 movement on my part, and without giving a chance for a 

 shot. In the other instance, while still at very long and un- 

 certain range, I heard the sharp barking alarm-note of one 

 of the prong-horn ; the whole band instantly raising their 

 heads and gazing intently at their would-be destroyer. They 

 were a very long way off; but, seeing it was hopeless to try 



