The Chief Game Of The Shoshonees,
Therefore, Is The Antelope, Which, When Pursued, Retreats To
The Open Plains, Where The
Horses have full room for 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 therefore obliged to resort to stratagem.
"About twenty Indians, mounted on fine horses, and armed with bows and arrows,
left the camp. In a short time they descried a herd of ten antelope:
they immediately separated into little 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 till they were perfectly enclosed,
and selecting, as far as possible, some commanding eminence as a stand.
Having gained their positions, a small party rode towards the animals,
and with wonderful dexterity the huntsmen preserved their seats,
and the horses their footing, as they ran at full speed over the hills,
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 backward
and forward, till at length, notwithstanding the skill of the hunters,
they all escaped and the party, after running for two hours, returned without
having caught anything, and their horses foaming with sweat.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 151 of 362
Words from 45906 to 46171
of 110166
