210 REMINISCENCES OF 



second and third rides. The first ride was only 

 one point better than the second. At the conclusion 

 of the ride Major Tully came across the hall and 

 said, " I retract all I said to you at Islington ; it is 

 perfectly marvellous what you have succeeded in 

 doing, and I sincerely congratulate you ". We took 

 ;i,6oo at the doors, and after paying all expenses 

 gave the balance to military charities. 



1886. I went over to Balcaskie to see Robert 

 Anstruther, who was not well. He was in the 

 drawing-room reading the newspaper. He said, 

 " When I shut one eye I can't see at all ". I took 

 up the paper, shut my left eye, and said, " By Jove, 

 I can't either ". It was the first time I found out 

 that I was blind. For some time I had wiped the 

 right eye of my spectacles thinking that the glass was 

 in fault. 



I was staying with Mrs. Musters, in June, and 

 she advised me to go and consult Mr. Bell Taylor 

 at Nottingham, as he was very famous as an oculist. 

 I found his rooms, passages and staircase crowded 

 with people. When I got into his room he said, 

 " Well, sir, what is the matter with you ? " I said, 

 " I have a cataract in my right eye ". " Lucky it is 

 nothing worse." He then looked through a glass 

 (his own eye looked as if he could see through you) 

 and said, " Yes, that eye is fit to operate on ; I'll do 

 it now if you like". I said, "Don't you be in a 

 hurry. How long do you want to keep me here?" 

 "About a fortnight or three weeks". I said I had 

 to go to Perth for ten days' drill. He said, " Come 



