Page:Mongolia, the Tangut country, and the solitudes of northern Tibet vol 1 (1876).djvu/95

 carefully avoid the hilly country, but sometimes appear in the undulating parts of the steppe, particularly in spring, attracted by the young grass, which shoots up under the influence of the sun's warmth. They shun thickets and high grass, excepting at the time of parturition, which is in May, when the doe seeks the covert to conceal her new-born offspring. But a few days after their birth the fawns follow their mothers about everywhere, and soon rival the fleet-footedness of their sires. They very seldom utter any sound, though the males occasionally give a short loud bleat. Nature has endowed them with excellent sight, hearing, and smell; their swiftness is marvellous, and their intelligence well developed, qualities which prevent their falling so easy a prey, as they otherwise would, to their enemies — man and the wolf.

Antelope-shooting is a difficult business, both because the animal is so shy, and because even when hit mortally it will often get away. In the open steppe a man cannot approach within 500 paces of them, and if they are once startled you may say twice that distance. Their careful avoidance of any cover makes it next to impossible to stalk them in the open plain. It is only in those parts of the steppe that abound in hillocks that a man can get within 300 yards, or sometimes, but rarely, within 200 yards, and even then he cannot be certain of his quarry. Granted that at 200 yards, with a good rifle, you are sure of your aim, on the other hand, your bullet does not kill unless it chance to hit the