THE AXTELOPE, OR PRONG -HORN. 369 



cided advantage over a horse in a rolling country, as their 

 long hind-legs enable them to dash up a hillock with ]KT- 

 hnps greater speed than they can show on the level; but 

 \\ IUTO the undulations of a plain are not very marked, or 

 hillocks are far apart, I am inclined to think that a fast 

 horse can fairly compete with them for a short distance. 

 A good deer-hound or greyhound would make short work 

 of them if they did not get too much of a start; but if 

 that exceeds one or two hundred yards, the dog must be 

 fleet indeed that can pull down a full-grown stag in a dash 

 of a mile or two. Coursing them with greyhounds is now 

 the most popular means of capturing them in the West; 

 and most exciting sport it is, as persons can follow the 

 chase on horseback, and, if well mounted, they ought to 

 see all its turnings. Several officers of the army, and even 

 rough-and-ready farmers and stock-raisers, keep dogs spe- 

 cially for hunting them, as the old system of stalking them 

 is rapidly dying out among true sportsmen. 



To approach a herd undetected requires the most careful 

 working, as sentinels are always on duty on elevated knolls; 

 and as they command a broad view of the surrounding 

 country, their eyes and noses are keen enough to discover 

 the approach of any hunter, unless he is well concealed by 

 bushes, hillocks, or ravines, and beats toward them from 

 the leeward. Their hearing is also very acute; so the 

 stalkers must be careful to make as little noise as possible. 

 I have often thought them to be as defective in vision as 

 the ordinary deer, and to be unable to identify objects un- 

 less they were in motion ; for I have frequently sat on the 

 prairie to the leeward of a group, and seen several ap- 

 proach me without any sense of fear, the only indication 

 they gave of recognizing my presence being to stare at me 

 at intervals. They have often come near enough to give 

 me a shot at them while in that position ; but the young 

 were the most incautious and unsuspicious. If I made the 

 least visible movement, however, they would scamper away 

 at once, and circle around me at a distance, as if trying to 

 solve what my designs were toward them. 



16* 



