THE CHASE. 57 
view nor in motion. He cannot readily tell a horse from a buf- 
falo, or a man from a bush, if they are perfectly still, unless they 
are quite near. Their sense of smell is very sensitive and discrim- 
inating. Their sense of hearing is also very acute, though not 
as much so as of many of the deer family. -They are naturally 
very timid and shy when their fears become aroused, but they 
are not as suspicious as most of the deer. They have a curiosity 
which is very remarkable, and which prompts them to examine 
every strange object which they see. This completely over- 
powers their caution, and often leads them into danger and to 
destruction. The hunter must remember they are exceedingly 
fleet of foot, far outstripping all other animals of the plains. Au- 
dubon says, }‘ They pass along, up or down bills or along the 
level plains with the same apparent ease, while so rapidly do 
their legs perform their graceful movements in propelling their 
bodies over the ground, that, like the spokes of a fast turning 
wheel, we can hardly see them, but instead observe a gauzy or 
film-like appearance where they should be visible.” Colonel 
Redfield once told me that he saw a frightened flock of antelopes 
flee to a very steep and high mound of rather loose scoria, near 
the Yellowstone River, which they seemed to go up almost like 
rockets, the detached material rolling down behind them like a 
line of smoke. Some of them lost their footing on the almost 
vertical side and fell back to the bottom, but the instant they 
reached that they flew back like the rebound of a ball, without 
any appreciable pause. 
I have seen them in my grounds make prodigious horizontal 
leaps across a ravine or depression.in the ground from a standing 
position or a leisurely walk when there was no obstruction to 
impede their walking across it if they had chosen so to do. 
These leaps seemed to require scarcely more effort than the walk. 
It was a horizontal bound so light and elastic that it seemed like 
a fleeting shadow, when the gentle walk would be instantly re- 
sumed with no more animation or excitement than if they had 
walked across the space. Still, as has been already explained, 
they are unable to make vertical leaps. I think it safe to say 
they cannot overleap an obstruction a yard in height. As before 
stated, when considering the habits of this animal, it is incapa- 
ble of sustaining its astonishing speed for any great length of 
time. It will soon seek some eminence, if to be found, stop, take 
breath, and look around for the object which alarmed it. 
Another fact should not be forgotten. This animal is remark- 
