ON THE PRAIRIE 41 



curious beast; and time and again a raw 

 hunter will try to stalk a lump of clay or a 

 burnt stick; and after being once or twice 

 disappointed 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 ap- 

 proaching too near. Twice, in scanning the 

 country narrowly with the glasses, from be- 

 hind a sheltering 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 upright or go along half stooping ; then, 

 as the distance grew closer, I had to crawl 

 on all fours and keep behind any little broken 



