180 
FRANK FORESTER^ FIELD SPORTS. 
the chase. But such is its extraordinary fleetness and wind, 
that a single horse has no possible chance of outrunning it, or 
tiring it down; and the hunters are obliged therefore to resort 
to stratagem. About twenty Indians, mounted on fine horses, 
armed with bows and arrows, left the camp; in a short time 
they descried a herd of ten Antelopes; they immediately sepa¬ 
rated into squads of two or three, and formed a scattered circle 
round the herd, for five or six miles, keeping at a wary distance, 
so as not to alarm them until they were perfectly inclosed, and 
usually selecting some commanding eminence as a stand. Hav¬ 
ing gained their positions, a small party rode towards the herd, 
and with wonderful dexterity the hunter preserved his seat, and 
the horse his footing, as he ran at full speed over the hills and 
down the steep ravines, and along the borders of the precipices. 
They were soon outstripped by the Antelopes, which, on gaining 
the other extremity of the circle, were driven back and pursued 
by the fresh hunters. They turned, and flew, rather than ran, 
in another direction; but there too they found new enemies. 
In this way they were alternately pursued backwards and for¬ 
wards, till at length, notwithstanding the skill of the hunters— 
who were merely armed with bows and arrows—they all 
escaped; and the party, after running for two hours, returned 
without having got one, and their horses foaming with sweat. 
“ ‘ This chase, the greater part of which was seen from the 
camp, formed a beautiful scene, but to the hunters it is exceed¬ 
ingly laborious, and so unproductive, even when they are able 
to worry the animal down, and shoot him, that forty or fifty 
hunters will sometimes be engaged for more than half a day, 
without obtaining more than two or three Antelopes.’ 
“ The Prong-horn is found in the vicinity of Carlton-house 
during the summer, and is usually called a Goat by the Cana¬ 
dians. The Creek Indians call them Apestachoelcoos . Lewis 
and Clarke saw the animal very frequently during their journey 
to the mouth of the Columbia River, though they were fewer on 
the plains of Columbia, than on the eastern side of the Rocky 
Mountains. Great numbers of these animals were seen by Lewie 
