ON THE CATTLE RANGES, 79 



of feet high, crested with tufts of coarse grass. 

 Raising my head very cautiously I peered 

 through these and saw the prong-horn about 

 a hundred and fifty yards distant. At the 

 same time I found that I had crawled to the 

 edge of a village of prairie dogs, which had 

 already made me aware of their presence by 

 their shrill yelping. They saw me at once : 

 and all those away from their homes scuttled 

 towards them, and dived down the burrows, 

 or sat on the mounds at the entrances, scold- 

 ing convulsively and jerking their fat little 

 bodies and short tails. This commotion at 

 once attracted the attention of the antelope. 

 They rose forthwith, and immediately caught 

 a glimpse of the black muzzle of the rifle 

 which I was gently pushing through the grass 

 tufts. The fatal curiosity which so often in 

 this species offsets wariness and sharp sight, 

 proved my friend ; evidently the antelope 

 could not quite make me out and wished to 

 know what I was. They moved nervously to 

 and fro, striking the earth with their fore 

 hoofs, and now and then uttering a sudden 

 bleat. At last the big buck stood still broad- 

 side to me, and I fired. He went off with the 

 others, but lagged behind as they passed over 

 the hill crest, and when I reached it I saw 

 him standing, not very far off, with his head 

 down. Then he walked backwards a few 

 steps, fell over on his side, and died. 



As he was a big buck I slung him across 

 the saddle, and started for camp afoot, leading 

 the horse. However my hunt was not over, 

 for while still a mile from the wagons, going 

 down a coulie of Dry Creek, a yearling prong- 



