340 SPORTING STORIES 



he never went upon unknown ground, his lack of sight did 

 not appear to be much detriment. The blind man naturally 

 trusted much to his acute sense of hearing, which frequently 

 informed him when his opponent's horse had shot his bolt 

 by the tune his pipes were playing. 



A less known but scarcely less remarkable man used 

 to sell race-cards at Stamford Races. His name was 

 Andrews, and he was generally known as " Blind Tommy." 

 On the 1 8th of February 1850 he rode a blind horse from 

 Stamford at 8 a.m., arrived at the White Horse, Spalding, 

 at 12.30, started for his return journey at 2.30 p.m., and 

 reached Stamford at 7.30 p.m. — the whole journey being 

 accomplished without a guide. 



On the 1 2th of March 1856 he rode a blind horse from 

 the Royal Hotel, Peterborough, to the White Hart, Wisbech. 

 He started from Peterborough at 10 a.m., went through 

 Thorney, and reached Wisbech at 4.10 p.m., left Wisbech 

 next day at 1.30 p.m., and arrived at Peterborough at 6 p.m. 

 — as before, without a guide. 



Six years later, in May 1862, this blind man rode a 

 donkey from Wisbech through Thorney and Thurlby, a 

 distance of 30 miles, all through the Fen country, with 

 dykes on either side of the road, in twelve hours, without a 

 guide. Andrews was a crack sprint-runner too, and beat 

 the well-known professional George Maxey in a hundred 

 yards race on the Thorpe and Peterborough road for a 

 stake of ^25 a side on the 13th of August 1850. 



Lieutenant James Holman, the blind traveller who lost 

 his sight at the age of five-and-twenty, was a keen sportsman 

 with both rod and gun. It is said that his hearing was so 

 exact and acute that when a covey of partridges or a 

 pheasant got up he would three times out of five down his 

 bird. This is the only instance I know of a blind man 

 attempting to shoot. Lieutenant Holman travelled twice 

 round the world, and published the narrative of these ex- 

 peditions, besides a graphic account of his travels through 

 Russia and Siberia. It is related that on one occasion he 

 was attacked by a polar bear, which he shot, though he had 

 nothing but his ear to guide his aim. But this can only 

 be regarded as a piece of sheer luck. The mere fact, 



