PRAIRIE SPORTS. 263 



of the prairie swells, with posted sentinels ever watchful, lis 

 great quickness of sight, of scent, and of hearing, render it 

 perhaps the most difficult to deal with of all the four-footed 

 game of America, if we except only that which I shall next 

 mention, the Rocky Mountain Goat, who owes his impregnability 

 principally, if not entii'ely, to the inaccessible nature of the 

 hdtints which he frequents. 



1 do not suppose that the use of the Greyhound has ever been 

 attempted against this beautiful little animal, and indeed there 

 is a difficulty in applying the faculties of this the fleetest of 

 dogs, to the pursuit of this swiftest of American quadrupeds — in 

 truth, a two-fold difficulty, arising in the first instance from the 

 fact, that it is scarce possible to slip the hounds within any 

 reasonable distance of the quarry ; and in the second, that the 

 true and speediest Greyhound, running by view alone, unaided 

 by scent, would soon be thrown out, from losing sight of its 

 prey, as it would disappear beyond the ridgy swells of the roll- 

 ing prairies, which it most loves to frequent. 



Falconry has never, I believe, been even attempted in America, 

 and so great is the expense, the trouble, and the uncertainty of 

 training Hawks, owing to the necessity of importing skilful Fal- 

 coners from the continent of Europe, or from the East, where 

 this princely sport is still cultivated, of maintaining a large train 

 of attendants, with kennels and stables proportionate, that it is 

 not wonderful it should not have yet become a sport in the 

 United States. 



Expensive as it is, however, it is scarcely more so than the 

 Turf, of which we have so many ardent votaries, and were 

 there opportunity in the older and wealthier portion of the 

 country for its adoption, I doubt not this most kingly of sports 

 would have long ago had its ardent amateurs. In Europe it 

 has been extinguished by the density of population, and per- 

 fectness of cultivation in all the level and rich districts, which 

 alone are suited to it by nature. In the Eastern, Midland, and 

 Southera States, the land is either too rugged or too woodland, 

 without taking the enclosures, which are an insurmountable 



