STILL-HUNTING THE ANTELOPE. 315 



twelve. He will not disturb it during its breeding-season, 

 nor while rearing its young. Nor will he, as a rule, take 

 advantage of deep snows to pursue and kill it when it is 

 unable to escape him, or to have at least a fair show for its 

 life. 



As to the best arm for Antelope-hunting, there is great 

 diversity of opinion among old prairie hunters, some pre- 

 ferring one weapon and some another, each proclaiming 

 emphatically that his favorite is the best; and the question 

 will probably never be definitely settled to the satisfaction 

 of all concerned. 



I will say, for myself, that I am perfectly familiar with 

 most of the popular makes of English rifles, shotguns, and 

 pistols, and that for my own choice I prefer the American 

 repeater and revolver to any of foreign make. The former 

 are fully as safe, accurate, and convenient, and as good in 

 every way, as game-killers or weapons of defense, as any 

 made in the Old World, while, in my humble opinion, the 

 Winchester repeater and Smith & Wesson revolver stand 

 at the head of the list of fire-arms, for general usefulness. 

 The latter, aside from its intrinsic value and merit, is by 

 far the handsomest pistol made. 



It would be absurd to compare a Winchester rifle, in 

 point of appearance, with a Purdy Express, the former 

 costing from 816 to $35, while the latter pulls the purse- 

 string to the tune of say 8500; but let both be tried as 

 game-killers, and nine riflemen out of ten will do better 

 execution when they have from five to ten shots at their 

 fingers' ends than if only two. And in the event of being 

 corraled by Indians, an old-fashioned 44 Winchester, 

 with its sixteen shots to draw on, is worth more than any 

 number of double guns; for, after all, those pistol-charges 

 are spiteful, and the bullets are ugly things to stop with 

 one's hide at three or four hundred yards, as many a poor 

 fellow has found out. 



Furthermore, I regard the Lyman front and rear sights 

 as indispensable to a game rifle as much so as its hammer 

 or mainspring; for although one may kill lots of game with 



