BLIND SPORTSMEN 341 



however, of a blind man having the nerve to carry a gun is 

 remarkable. Most, if not all, of his journeys were exploring 

 expeditions in regions little known, and consequently he 

 had to rough it in a fashion which might well have tested 

 the powers and resources of a man with perfect sight. His 

 skill as a fisherman I do not take much account of, because 

 it was not like Professor Fawcett's fly-fishing; but his 

 shooting feats, I must confess, move me to unbounded 

 astonishment. 



The late Mr Kavanagh, long a well-known member of 

 the House of Commons, though not blind, suffered from 

 physical disabilities which might have been thought more 

 fatal to the enjoyment of sport than the loss of sight. He 

 had neither arms nor legs, yet he hunted and shot and drove, 

 and in all these was an adept. He was fastened on horse- 

 back in a kind of basket arrangement, and guided his horse 

 partly with his teeth and partly by hooks attached to the 

 stumps which reached some six inches from each shoulder. 

 In shooting, a wooden arm was attached to the left stump, 

 which gave him a rest for his gun. 



Sir William Maxwell of Monreith, the owner of Filho da 

 Puta, winner of the St Leger of 1815, who lost his arm in 

 the Peninsular War, was one of the best game-shots of his 

 day, and was another instance of a plucky sportsman's 

 determination not to be deterred by physical disability from 

 pursuing his favourite sport. 



