50 



THE CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY, 



river, and reside in the open plains, to hunt the Antilope, 

 which they pursue on horseback, and shoot, with their 

 arrows." 



During the last expedition to the Rocky Mountains, 

 under Major Long, the following incident occurred, which 

 eminently displays the wonderful fleetness of the Antilope. 

 " One afternoon, while the expedition halted, two soldiers, 

 mounted on excellent horses, went out to hunt. After 

 going some distance, they discovered, afar off, a female 

 Antilope, feeding on the prairie. They immediately dis- 

 mounted, and, after some ingenuity, succeeded in approach- 

 ing sufficiently near to fire at and wound the animal, 

 which fled at once. They then returned to their horses, 

 remounted, and gave chase; but, on arriving at the spot 

 where the animal had been wounded, they discovered its 

 fawn, and as their object was diversion, they gave chase to 

 the fawn in preference to the wounded mother. This they 

 followed with the most rapid speed for upwards of two 

 hours, before they succeeded in making it captive, and this 

 was only effected, when by its exertions it sank exhausted 

 on the ground, and had nearly worn out the horses and 

 riders. The little prisoner was taken to the camp almost 

 lifeless, but being fed on bread and milk, it was soon re- 

 vived. The next day, as the expedition was moving for- 

 ward, one of the party led it by his handkerchief; but to 

 his surprise, instead of making any resistance, or attempts 

 to escape, it kept pace with his footsteps, and evinced so 

 much familiarity, that at length he concluded to untie it, 

 and see if it would follow of its own accord. This it did 

 for the greater part of the day, when it gave out, and was 

 left behind, being no doubt greatly weakened by the exer- 

 tions of the previous day." From this fact, it may be 

 inferred, that the Antilope, if taken young, would, like the 

 common deer, {Cervus Virginianus,) leave its kind, and 

 abide in the habitations of man. 



" The most northerly range of the Prong-horned Anti- 

 lope," says Dr. Richardson, " is latitude 53°, on the banks 

 of the north branch of the Saskatchewan. Some of them 

 remain the whole year on the south branch of that river, 

 but they are merely summer visitors to the north branch. 

 They come every year to the neighbourhood of Carlton- 

 house, when the snow has mostly gone; soon after their 

 arrival the females drop their young, and they retire to 

 the southwards again in the autumn as soon as the snow 

 begins to fall. Almost every year a small herd linger 

 on a piece of rising ground not far from Carlton-house, 

 until the snow has become too deep on the plains to per- 

 mit them to travel over them. Few or none of that herd, 

 however, survive until the spring, as they are persecuted 

 by the wolves during the whole winter. They are found 



in the summer season in the fifty-third parallel of latitude, 

 from longitude 106° to the foot of the Rocky Mountains. 



"The Prong-horned Antilope appears on the banks of 

 the Saskachewan sometimes a solitary animal, sometimes 

 assembled in herds of ten or twelve. Its sight and sense 

 of smell are acute, and its speed is greater than that of 

 any other inhabitant of the plains, although I have been 

 informed by Mr. Prudens, who has resided forty years in 

 that quarter, that when there is a little snow on the ground 

 it may, with some little management, be run down by a 

 high bred horse. The Indian hunters have no difficulty 

 in bringing an Antilope within gun-shot, by various strata- 

 gems, such as lying down on their backs and kicking their 

 heels in the air, holding up a white rag, or clothing them- 

 selves in a white shirt, and showing themselves only at 

 intervals. By these and similar manoeuvres, the curiosity 

 of a herd of Antilopes is so much roused that they wheel 

 round the object of their attention, and at length approach 

 near enough to enable the hunter to make sure of his 

 mark. From this disposition of the prong-horned Anti- 

 lopes, they are more easily killed than any of the deer of 

 the district which they inhabit. They are, however, ob- 

 jects of little interest to the Indians, who eat their flesh 

 only when the bison, moose or wapiti are not to be pro- 

 cured, and their skins are of no value as an article of trade. 

 The Mandans on the Missouri are said to capture them in 

 pounds. 



" This animal has a graceful form, a slender head, with 

 large eyes, and long and delicate limbs. The nostrils 

 turn obliquely upwards from the raphe of the upper lip, 

 and are separated by a small, tumid, triangular, naked 

 space. The naked margins of the lips are blackish, but 

 the lips and chin are covered with white hair. The nose 

 is nearly straight, or very slightly arched, narrow, and is 

 clothed towards its tip with short hair of a liver-brown 

 colour, which gradually mingles towards the fore-head 

 with yellowish brown hair. The orbits have a narrow, 

 blackish-brown margin, and the eye-lashes, composed of 

 a row of stiff, erect hairs, are black. The cheeks are 

 covered with short hair, mostly of a wood-brown colour, 

 and the forehead is clothed with longer bushy hair, and 

 presents two white marks, one extending from ear to ear, 

 the other a little anterior to it; the latter mark is slightly 

 tinged with brown. The ears are upwards of six inches 

 high, narrow, and have the inner side curving in for half 

 their height; from thence to their acute tips they are flat. 

 They are covered posteriorly by a smooth coat of short 

 hair, of a yellowish-brown colour, mixed with dark 

 umber, the latter colour prevailing near the tip. They 

 are lined interiorly with longer hair, of a grayish 

 white colour. There is a dark blackish-brown spot 



