A Trip on the Prairie 199 



Antelope possess a most morbid curiosity. The 

 appearance of anything out of the way, or to which 

 they are not accustomed, often seems to drive them 

 nearly beside themselves with mingled fright and 

 desire to know what it is, a combination of feelings 

 that throws them into a perfect panic, during whose 

 continuance they will at times seem utterly unable 

 to take care of themselves. In very remote, wild 

 places, to which no white man often penetrates, the 

 appearance of a white-topped wagon will be enough 

 to excite this feeling in the prong-horn, and in such 

 cases it is not unusual for a herd to come up and 

 circle round the strange object heedless of rifle- 

 shots. This curiosity is particularly strong in the 

 bucks during rutting-time, and one method of hunt- 

 ing them is to take advantage of it, and "flag'* them 

 up to the hunters by waving a red handkerchief or 

 some other object to and fro in the air. In very wild 

 places they can sometimes be flagged up, even after 

 they have seen the man; but, elsewhere, the latter 

 must keep himself carefully concealed behind a ridge 

 or hillock, or in tall grass, and keep cautiously wav- 

 ing the handkerchief overhead. The antelope will 

 look fixedly at it, stamp, snort, start away, come 

 nearer by fits and starts, and run from one side to 

 the other, the better to see it. Sometimes a wary old 

 buck will keep this up for half an hour, and at the 

 end make off; but, again, the attraction may prove 

 too strong, and the antelope comes slowly on until 

 within rifle-shot. This method of hunting, however, 

 is not so much practiced now as formerly, as the 



