CHAPTER VIII. 
THE PRONG-HORNED ANTELOPE. 
From the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean, and 
from the Gulf of Mexico to about the fiftieth degree of 
north latitude, this beautiful animal at one time ranged. 
Now, however, from the same causes as have restricted the 
habitats of other large American game, the prong-horned 
antelope will only be found on the great prairies that lay 
on the eastern margin of the Rocky Mountains, and in the 
vast plains of Sonora and North-western Mexico; for, from 
their wonderful fleetness and extreme watchfulness, horses 
and hounds are useless in their pursuit. Frequently, how- 
ever, they are brought within range of the sportsman by 
waving a colored handkerchief or other unknown object. 
This must always be done down wind, care at the same 
time being taken to conceal every part of the person. I 
can imagine no weapon better suited for killing this game 
than the new express rifle. In no description of field-sports 
that I know of will the skill of the stalker be better tried 
than in pursuit of this handsome indigenous game; and if 
your shot should be a running one, and you do your work 
in a clean and workman-like manner, you will deserve all 
praise, for you have caused to bite the dust the swiftest, in 
my belief, of all quadrupeds; in fact, their speed is such 
that the eye can scarcely follow the action of their limbs. 
Yet their gait is not low and close to the ground, but a 
succession of rather lofty bounds, and performed with such 
surprising ease, that it causes the beholder to wonder how 
the frame of any creature can sustain uninjured such a tre- 
mendous strain. 
