Pedestrianism

208 SKETCHES OF CAPT. BARCLAY'S stockings, which preserve his fe6t from in­ jury. It is a good rule to shift the stockings frequently during the performance of a long distance; but it is indispensably requisite to have shoeswith thick soles, and so large, that all unnecessary pressure on the feet may be avoided. Capt. Barclay's great muscular power has been evincedin his various pedestrian feats, recorded inthe previous Chapter; but it re­ mains to benoticed, that,in his armsparticu­ larly, he possesses uncommon strength,as ex- plified in the following performances. In April 1 806, while in Suffolk with the 23d regiment, although only twenty yearsof age, he offered a bet of one thousand guineas, which was not accepted, that he would lift from the ground the weight of half a ton. He tried the experiment, however, and having obtaineda numberof weights which werfeast­ ened togetherby a rope through the rings, he lifted twenty-onehalf hundred weights. He afterwards, with a straight arm, threw a half hundred weight the- distance of eight yards, and