THE PRAIRIE WOLF. 105 



vide after coyotes until I lost or captured them. This 

 horse, which was a great favorite of mine, although he 

 would buck like a bounding rubber ball occasionally, and 

 shy without the least cause every few minutes, and when 

 I did not expect it, was a capital jumper an unusual tiling 

 for an untrained horse in the West and could run ten or 

 fifteen miles at a slashing gait without showing much suf- 

 fering. When I hunted coyotes I generally had one or 

 two dogs with me; but I frequently went without them, as 

 the quarries were so numerous that they were liable to 

 start up at any moment near my feet. At the first view I 

 would dash after them, and force them to their best pace 

 for fifteen or twenty minutes; and I found that this soon 

 produced its effect, and that I might expect to capture 

 them at any moment if they did not escape me in the chap- 

 arral. When I drew alongside I let them have the con- 

 tents of a large revolver ; but I sometimes secured one by 

 striking it on the head with a club or " waddy," or by las- 

 soing it with a raw-hide lariat. 



It may perhaps be needless to state that I lost many 

 more than I captured, unless I was accompanied by the 

 dogs, and even then I might say that I could count more 

 escapes than captures. The only way to be sure of it is to 

 use a greyhound ; for that light-footed creature will soon 

 bring it to bay, and enable the pack of hounds, or other 

 dogs, to come up with it. If a person is well up in the 

 run on such occasions, he will see a pretty bit of a scram- 

 ble; for the coyote, when it sees no means of escape, will, 

 like the traditional worm, turn on its foes, and use its sharp 

 teeth to good advantage. A capital dog for hunting it 

 would be a cross between the fox-hound and deer-hound, or 

 the fox-hound and the German ullmerhund, or boar-hound ; 

 for the greyhound alone does not seem to have sufficient 

 combativeness or destructiveness to face any animal that 

 will make a vigorous resistance. I am rather inclined to 

 believe that the latter cross would produce one of the 

 best dogs for coyote-hunting in the West, as it would have 

 strength and courage enough to face any game, and it ought 



