128 Deer and Antelope of 'North America 



when I jumped off and left them, would always stay 

 in the neighborhood and permit themselves to be 

 caught without difficulty. Both took the keenest 

 interest in the chase, knowing what to do just as 

 well as I did, and both would come to a dead 

 halt the instant I pulled the reins to spring off 

 for the shot. Mahitou stayed right by me, but 

 Muley's nerves always overcame him as I raised 

 my rifle, and snorting violently, he would dash 

 off for a hundred yards, wheel, and stand looking 

 at me with absorbed interest, his ears pricked 

 forward. 



It was, of course, no use to try to run down the 

 prongbuck in a straight-away, tail-on-end chase. 

 My object was to take advantage of the animal's 

 disinclination to change its course when it has 

 once definitely determined to run toward a cer- 

 tain point. When they first see a mounted man, 

 a band of pronghorns will frequently circle and 

 wheel or run in zigzags, halt and look about 

 them, finally making up their minds to go away 

 in good earnest and in a definite course. When 

 they are once thus running they dislike to aban- 

 don their course, and if a man seeks to cut them 

 off, they will frequently refuse to swerve, simply 

 increasing their speed so as to pass ahead of the 

 pursuer. Taking advantage of this peculiarity I 

 would ride at a jog-trot until I saw a band or 

 a single animal under circumstances which I 



