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 Rocliy Mountains, 
under Major Long, the following incident occurred, which 
eminently displays the wonderful fleetness of the Antilope. 
u 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 da) 7 , 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 maybe 
inferred, that the Antilope, if taken young, would, like the 
common deer, (Cervus Virginicmus ,) 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 t.he 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 
