WESTERN WILD SPORTS. 
179 
grottnd is passed over appears to the spectator to resemble the 
flight of a bird rather than the motion of a quadruped. 
“ In one instance, Captain Lewis, after various fruitless at¬ 
tempts by winding around the ridges, succeeded in approaching 
a party of seven that stood upon an eminence towards which 
the wind was unfortunately blowing. The only male of the 
party frequently encircled the summit of the hill, as if to an¬ 
nounce any danger to the group of females which stood upon 
the top. Before they saw Captain Lewis, they became alarmed 
by the scent, and fled while he was at the distance of two hun¬ 
dred yards. He immediately ran to the spot where they had 
stood; a ravine concealed them from him, but at the next 
moment they appeared on the second ridge at the distance of 
three miles. He could not but doubt whether these were the 
same he had alarmed, but their number and continued speed, 
convinced him they were so* and he justly infers that they must 
have run with a rapidity equal to that of the most celebrated 
race-horse. 
“ Yet, notwithstanding the keenness of their senses, and sur¬ 
prising velocity of their course, the Prong-horned Antelope is 
often betrayed to his destruction by curiosity. When the hun¬ 
ter first comes in sight, his whole speed is exerted, but if his 
pursuer lies down and lifts up his hat, arm or foot, the Antelope 
trots back to gaze at the object, and sometimes goes and re¬ 
turns two or three times, until it comes within reach of the 
rifle. This same curiosity occasionally enables the Wolves to 
make them a prey; for sometimes one of them will leave his 
companions, to go and look at the Wolves, which, should the 
Antelope be frightened at first, crouch down, repeating the 
manoeuvre, sometimes relieving each other, until they succeed in 
decoying it within their power, when it is pulled down and 
devoured. But the Wolves more frequently succeed in taking 
the Antelope when they are crossing the rivers, as they are not 
good swimmers. ‘ The chief game of the Shoshonees,’ says 
Lewis and Clarke, ‘ is the Antelope, which, when pursued, re¬ 
treats to the open plains, where the horses have full room for 
