No one ever saw him trotting or galloping; he
only racks, but with such rapidity that no steed can follow him. Immense
sums of money have been offered to any who could catch him, and many
have attempted the task, but without success. The noble animal still
runs free in his native prairies, always alone and unapproachable.
We often met with the mountain goat, an animal which participates both
of the deer and the common goat, but whose flesh is far superior to
either. It is gracefully shaped--long-legged and very fleet. One of
them, whose fore-leg I had broken with a rifle-ball, escaped from our
fleetest horse (Castro's), after a chase of nearly thirty minutes. The
mountain goat is found on the great platforms of the Rocky Mountains,
and also at the broad waters of the rivers Brasos and Colorado. Though
of a very timid nature they are superlatively inquisitive, and can be
easily attracted within rifle-range by agitating, from behind a tree, a
white or red handkerchief.
We were also often visited, during the night, by rattlesnakes, who liked
amazingly the heat and softness of our blankets. They were unwelcome
customers, to be sure; but yet there were some others of which we were
still more in dread: among them I may class, as the ugliest and most
deadly, the prairie tarantula, a large spider, bigger than a good-sized
chicken egg, hairy, like a bear, with small blood-shot eyes and little
sharp teeth.
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