PRAIRIE SPORTS. 
263 
of the prairie swells, with posted sentinels ever watchful, its 
great quickness of sight, of scent, and of hearing, render it 
perhaps the most difficult to deal with of all the four-footed 
game of America, if we except only that which I shall next 
mention, the Rocky Mountain Goat, who owes his impregnability 
principally, if not entirely, to the inaccessible nature of the 
haunts which he frequents. 
I do not suppose that the use of the Greyhound has ever been 
attempted against this beautiful little animal, and indeed there 
is a difficulty in applying the faculties of this the fleetest of 
dogs, to the pursuit of this swiftest of American quadrupeds—in 
truth, a two-fold difficulty, arising in the first instance from the 
fact, that it is scarce possible to slip the hounds within any 
reasonable distance of the quarry; and in the second, that the 
true and speediest Greyhound, running by view alone, unaided 
by scent, would soon be thrown out, from losing sight of its 
prey, as it would disappear beyond the ridgy swells of the roll¬ 
ing prairies, which it most loves to frequent. 
Falconry has never, I believe, been even attempted in America, 
and so great is the expense, the trouble, and the uncertainty of 
training Hawks, owing to the necessity of importing skilful Fal¬ 
coners from the continent of Europe, or from the East, where 
this princely sport is still cultivated, of maintaining a large train 
of attendants, with kennels and stables proportionate, that it is 
not wonderful it should not have yet become a sport in the 
United States. 
Expensive as it is, however, it is scarcely more so than the 
Turf, of which we have so many ardent votaries, and were 
there opportunity in the older and wealthier portion of the 
country for its adoption, I doubt not this most kingly of sports 
would have long ago had it3 ardent amateurs. In Europe it 
has been extinguished by the density of population, and per¬ 
fectness of cultivation in all the level and rich districts, which 
alone are suited to it by nature. In the Eastern, Midland, and 
Southern States, the land is either too rugged or too woodland, 
without taking the enclosures, which are an insurmountable 
