Nothing
can surpass the delicate and elegant finish of their limbs, in which
lightness, elasticity, and strength are wonderfully combined. All
the attitudes and movements of this beautiful animal are graceful and
picturesque; and it is altogether as fit a subject for the fanciful uses
of the poet as the oft-sung gazelle of the East.
Their habits are shy and capricious; they keep on the open plains, are
quick to take the alarm, and bound away with a fleetness that defies
pursuit. When thus skimming across a prairie in the autumn, their light
gray or dun color blends with the hue of the withered herbage, the
swiftness of their motion baffles the eye, and they almost seem
unsubstantial forms, driven like gossamer before the wind.
While they thus keep to the open plain and trust to their speed, they
are safe; but they have a prurient curiosity that sometimes betrays
them to their ruin. When they have scud for some distance and left their
pursuer behind, they will suddenly stop and turn to gaze at the object
of their alarm. If the pursuit is not followed up they will, after a
time, yield to their inquisitive hankering, and return to the place from
whence they have been frightened.
John Day, the veteran hunter already mentioned, displayed his experience
and skill in entrapping one of these beautiful animals.
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