1 8 HUNTING TRIPS 



horn; and these few did not include any 

 owned by either of my two friends. But 

 the antelope were always being obliged to 

 break back from the edge of the plateau, and 

 so were forced constantly to offer opportu- 

 nities for cutting them off; and these op- 

 portunities were still further increased by the 

 two hunters separating. One of them would 

 go to the upper end of the plateau and start 

 the band, riding after them at full speed.* 

 They would distance him, but would be 

 checked in their career by coming to the 

 brink of the cliff; then they would turn at 

 an angle and give their pursuer a chance to 

 cut them off; and if they kept straight up 

 the middle the other hunter would head them. 

 When a favorable moment came the hunters 

 would dash in as close as possible and empty 

 their revolvers or repeaters into the herd; 

 but it is astonishing how hard it is, when 

 riding a horse at full speed, to hit any ob- 

 ject, unless it is directly under the muzzle 

 of the weapon. The number of cartridges 

 spent compared to the number of prong-horn 



