Basil was particularly anxious to bring down an antelope, for he had never killed one.

In fact, he had never seen one, as this animal is not met with near the Mississippi.

Strange to say, its favourite range is the arid deserts that lie near the foots of the Rocky Mountains, where there is but little grass, and less water.

In some of these it is the only ruminating animal, of any considerable size, to be met with.
It is often found so far from water, that some naturalists have asserted it can live without this necessary element.

They forget that what to them appears _far from water_, is to the antelope but a run of a few minutes, or rather I should say, a flight--for its bounding speed resembles more the flight of a bird than the gallop of a four-footed creature.
Antelopes differ but little from deer.