110 DR. C. A. CANFIELD ON THE PRONGBUCK. [Feb. 27, 



chase small animals about, making a noise like a ram when rutting, 

 and sometimes made the same rutting noise when going to leap on an 

 animal. He liked very much to have any one play with his head 

 and horns ; but would not allow any other part of his body to be 

 handled or touched, and was very skittish and untractable, though 

 apparently so gentle. He would follow the dogs all day in the hills 

 with me when hunting ; but if separated from me by accident would 

 immediately go to the house. He thus returned home alone, one 

 day, a distance of twelve miles. He frequently ran out to meet the 

 Antelopes that were crossing the valley, or that were coming in to 

 drink ; and although he sometimes went off with them to the hills, 

 he always returned immediately to the valley. I raised also another 

 little buck Antelope ; but he was very wild, and ran away when eight 

 or nine months old, after the older one was killed ; so that I learnt 

 nothing from him, except that his first little horns fell off in No- 

 vember, when he was six months old or more. 



" The doe Antelopes almost invariably bring forth two kids at a 

 birth. It is very rare (in fact I never have known) that a female 

 has been killed pregnant with only one foetus ; and, on the other 

 hand, they never have more than two at a birth. In this respect 

 they are very different from the females of the Black-tailed Deer 

 (Cervus columbianus), which frequently bring forth only one at a 

 birth, and not uncommonly three. It is not rare to see a doe Deer 

 with three fawns followiug her ; and I am assured by reliable hunters 

 that they have killed, occasionally, doe Deer pregnant with three 

 foetuses. In this respect, as in many others, the Antelope is much 

 more regular in his habits, much more conformable to fixed rules, 

 than most other wild animals. For example, the female Antelopes 

 all bring forth their kids about the same time, within the space of 

 about a month ; whereas female Deer are dropping their fawns for 

 three or four months. Doe Antelopes are always ' in good order,' 

 except when giving milk, though they never get very fat as do the 

 bucks sometimes. The fat of the Antelope is very hard, like sper- 

 maceti, and makes excellent candles. The Antelope trots, gallops, 

 and bounds, and is the swiftest animal in North America. The 

 greyhound cannot catch it in a fair chase ; a fast horse can hardly 

 overtake one with one leg broken. I chased a buck three miles on 

 one occasion, having broken his forearm, and the ball having pene- 

 trated to the lungs ; my horse was an excellent one, fast and ' long- 

 winded ; ' but it required all my efforts to overtake the buck in that 

 distance. The hide of the Antelope is thin and weak, but makes soft 

 and pliable ' morocco ' or dressed leather. 



" In your report you say nothing of the existence of the Antelope 

 on this side of the Sierra Nevada; but I can assure you that they 

 abound everywhere in all the plains and valleys of the western slope, 

 down to the Pacific Ocean. 



" Much more could be added to the above, relative to the habits, 

 &c., of the Prong-horned Antelope ; but this must suffice ; and if 

 what I have written you will be of any value to science, you are at 

 liberty to make such use of it as you think proper." 



