194 GAME. 



horns from eight to fourteen inches in length, and, 

 though very considerably larger, are of the same cha- 

 racter as the horns of the chamois. At about two-thirds 

 of its length, measured from the base, the horn becomes 

 somewhat palmated, and a short prong branches off, 

 giving to the animal its name ' prong-horn.' The tips 

 are bent inward a fortunate provision, as these little 

 animals are very pugnacious, and, were the horns straight, 

 their combats would frequently result in death. As it 

 is they cannot seriously hurt each other, and the fight 

 consists in a simple trial of pushing. They do not butt 

 like sheep, nor strike like goats, but, putting their heads 

 together, each combatant pushes with all his might. 

 The weaker gradually gives ground until, finding himself 

 overmatched, he attempts to escape, generally receiving 

 such a punch in the side or buttocks as most decidedly 

 accelerates his speed and puts an end to the combat. 



Though these horns are apparently of the same 

 growth as those of cattle or goats, the antelope never- 

 theless sheds them every year. The horn has a pith, 

 and is not wholly shed, as the elk or deer horn, but 

 the hard horny shell comes off the pith just as the 

 shell comes off the body of a crab. In May the 

 outside shell begins to get loose ; the antelope retires 

 to some solitude, the shell drops off, leaving a spongy, 

 white, fleshy substance, sparsely covered with short, stiff, 

 black bristles, pointing towards the end, and the growth 

 of which evidently aids in pushing off the shell. This 

 pith grows with wonderful rapidity, becomes somewhat 

 larger than the old horn, and the outside hardens into a 

 horny shell. The whole process takes but two or three days. 



Many plainsmen, who ought to know better, insist 

 that antelope do not shed their horns. I know they do. 

 I have killed an antelope with the shell already off one 

 horn ; the other loose and nearly off. I have killed many 

 with the shell loose, and several times have had a shell 

 come off in my hand. I have bagged antelope when 



