48 ACROSS MONGOLIAN PLAINS 



photography was postponed until the next day, and 

 we ran over toward a herd of antelope which was 

 just visible on the sky line. When each of us had killed 

 an animal, the opinion was unanimous that we had 

 enough. I got mine on the first chase and thenceforth 

 employed my time in making observations on the an- 

 telope's speed. 



Time after time the car reached forty miles an hour, 

 but with an even start the gazelles could swing about 

 in front and "cross our bows." One of the antelope 

 had a front leg broken just below the knee, and gave 

 us a hard chase with the car going at thirty-five miles 

 an hour. I estimated that even in its crippled condi- 

 tion the animal was traveling at a rate of Tiot less than 

 twenty-jive miles an hour. 



My field notes tell of a similar experience with the 

 last gazelle which Mac killed late in the afternoon. 

 ". . . We ran toward another group of antelope stand- 

 ing on the simimit of a long land swell. There were 

 fourteen in this herd and as the car neared them they 

 trotted about with heads up, evidently trying to decide 

 what species of plains animal we represented. The 

 sun had just set, and I shall never forget the picture 

 which they made, their graceful figures showing in 

 black silhouettes against the rose glow of the evening 

 sky. There was one buck among them and they 

 seemed very nervous. When the men leaped out to 

 shoot we were fully two hundred and fifty yards 

 away, but at his third shot Mac dropped the buck. 

 It was up again and off before the motor started in 



