On the Pampas; Or, The Young Settlers

by G. A. Henty

  CHAPTER IV.

  THE PAMPAS.

  The voyage up the river Parana was marked by no particularincident. The distance to Rosario from Buenos Ayres is about twohundred and fifty miles, which was performed by the steamer inabout a day and a half. The river is nearly twenty miles inbreadth, and is completely studded by islands. The scenery is flatand uninteresting, and the banks but poorly wooded. Our travelerswere therefore glad when they arrived at Rosario. The boys weredisappointed at the aspect of the town, which, although a risingplace, contained under a thousand inhabitants, and looked miserablypoor and squalid after Buenos Ayres. Here they were met by agentleman to whom Mr. Thompson had introduced Mr. Hardy, and withwhom he had stayed on his first visit to Rosario. He had broughthorses for themselves, and bullock carts for their luggage.

  "What! are these your boys, Mr. Hardy? I had not expected to haveseen such big fellows. Why, they will be men in no time."

  Charley and Hubert deserved Mr. Percy's commendation. They were nowsixteen and fifteen years old respectively, and were remarkablystrong, well-grown lads, looking at least a year older than theyreally were. In a few minutes the luggage was packed in two bullockcarts, and they were on their way out to Mr. Percy's station, whichwas about halfway to the camp of Mr. Hardy. The word camp in thepampas means station or property; it is a corruption of the Spanishword _campos_, literally plains or meadows.

  Here they found that Mr. Percy had most satisfactorily performedthe commission with which Mr. Hardy had entrusted him. He hadbought a couple of the rough country bullock carts, three pair ofoxen accustomed to the yoke, half a dozen riding horses, two milchcows, and a score of sheep and cattle to supply the larder. He hadhired four men--a stock-keeper named Lopez, who was called thecapitaz or head man, a tall, swarthy fellow, whose father was aSpaniard, and his mother a native woman; two laborers, the one aGerman, called Hans, who had been some time in the colony, theother an Irishman, Terence Kelly, whose face the boys remembered atonce, as having come out in the same ship with themselves. The lastman was an American, one of those wandering fellows who are nevercontented to remain anywhere, but are always pushing on, as if theythought that the further they went the better they should fare. Hewas engaged as carpenter and useful man, and there were few thingsto which he could not turn his hand. Mr. Hardy was pleased withtheir appearance; they were all powerful men, accustomed to work.Their clothes were of the roughest and most miscellaneous kind, amixture of European and Indian garb, with the exception of Terence,who still clung to the long blue-tailed coat and brass buttons ofthe "ould country."

  They waited the next day at Mr. Percy's station, and started thenext morning before daylight, as they had still ten miles totravel, and were desirous of getting as early to the ground aspossible.

  The boys were in the highest spirits at being at last really outupon the pampas, and as day fairly broke they had a hearty laugh atthe appearance of their cavalcade. There was no road or track ofany kind, and consequently, instead of following in a file, as theywould have done in any other country, the party straggled along ina confused body. First came the animals--the sheep, bullocks, andcows. Behind these rode Lopez, in, his gaucho dress, and a longwhip in his hand, which he cracked from time to time, with a reportlike that of a pistol--not that there was any difficulty in drivingthe animals at a pace sufficient to keep well ahead of the bullockcarts, for the sheep of the pampas are very much more active beaststhan their English relations. Accustomed to feed on the openplains, they travel over large extent of ground, and their ordinarypace is four miles an hour. When frightened, they can go for manymiles at a speed which will tax a good horse to keep up with. Thefirst bullock cart was driven by Hans, who sat upon the top of aheap of baggage, his head covered with a very old and batteredPanama hat, through several broad holes in which his red hairbristled out in a most comic fashion, and over his blue flannelshirt a large red beard flowed almost to his waist. Terence waswalking by the side of the second cart in corduroy breeches andgaiters and blue coat, with a high black hat, battered and bruisedout of all shape, on his head. In his hand he held a favoriteshillalah, which he had brought with him from his native land, andwith the end of which he occasionally poked the ribs of the oxen,with many Irish ejaculations, which no doubt alarmed the animalsnot a little. The Yankee rode sometimes near one, sometimes byanother, seldom exchanging a word with any one. He wore a fur capmade of fox's skin; a faded blanket, with a hole cut in the middlefor the head to go through, fell from his shoulders to his knees.He and Lopez each led a couple of spare horses. The mastiffstrotted along by the horses, and the two fine retrievers, Dash andFlirt, galloped about over the plains. The plain across which theywere traveling was a flat, broken only by slight swells, and a treehere and there; and the young Hardys wondered not a little howLopez, who acted as guide, knew the direction he was to take.

  After three hours' riding Lopez pointed to a rather larger clump oftrees than usual in the distance, and said, "That is the camp."

  "Hurrah," shouted the boys. "May we ride on, papa?"

  "Yes, boys, I will ride on with you." And off they set, leavingtheir party to follow quietly.

  "Mind how you gallop, boys; the ground is honeycombed witharmadillo holes, and if your horse treads in one you will go overhis head."

  "I don't think that I should do that," Charley, who had a more thansufficiently good opinion of himself, said; "I can stick on prettytightly, and--" he had not time to finish his sentence, for hishorse suddenly seemed to go down on his head, and Charley was sentflying two or three yards through the air, descending with a heavythud upon the soft ground.

  He was up in a moment, unhurt, except for a knock on the eyeagainst his gun, which he was carrying before him; and after aminute's rueful look he joined heartily in the shouts of laughterof his father and brother at his expense, "Ah, Charley, brag is agood dog, but holdfast is a better. I never saw a more literalproof of the saying. There, jump up again, and I need not say lookout for holes."

  They were soon off again, but this time at a more moderate pace.This fall was not, by a very long way, the only one which they hadbefore they had been six months upon the plains; for the armadilloswere most abundant, and in the long grass it was impossible to seetheir holes. In addition to the armadillos, the ground is in manypaces honeycombed by the bischachas, which somewhat in size andappearance resemble rabbits, and by a little burrowing owl.

  The Hardys soon crossed a little stream, running east to fall intothe main stream, which formed the boundary of the property uponthat side; and Mr. Hardy told the boys that they were now upontheir own land. There was another hurrah, and then, regardless ofthe risk of falls, they dashed up to the little clump of trees,which stood upon slightly rising ground. Here they drew rein, andlooked round upon the country which was to be their home. As far asthe eye could reach a flat plain, with a few slight elevations andsome half-dozen trees, extended. The grass was a brilliant green,for it was now the month of September. Winter was over, and theplain, refreshed by the rains, wore a bright sheet of green,spangled with innumerable flowers. Objects could be seen moving inthe distance, and a short examination enabled Mr. Hardy to decidethat they were ostriches, to the delight of the boys, who promisedthemselves an early hunt.

  "Where have you fixed for the house, papa?" Hubert asked.

  "There, where those three trees are growing upon the highest swellyou can see, about a mile and a half further. We will go on atonce; the others will see us."

  Another ten minutes took them to the place Mr. Hardy had pointedout, and the boys both agreed that nothing could be better.

  At the foot of the slope the river which formed the easternboundary flowed, distant a quarter of a mile or so from the top ofthe rise. To the right another stream came down between the slopeand another less elevated rise beyond. This stream had here rathera rapid fall, and was distant about three hundred yards from theintended site of the house. The main river was thirty or fortyyards across, and was now full of water; and upon its sur
face theboys could see flocks of ducks, geese, and other birds. In someplaces the bank was bare, but in others thick clumps of bushes andbrushwood grew beside it.

  They now took off the saddles and bridles from their horses, andallowed them to range as they pleased, knowing that the nativehorses were accustomed to be let free, and that there was no fearof their straying away. "Now, boys," Mr. Hardy said, "let us beginby getting our first dinner. You go straight down to the water; Iwill keep to the right. You take Dash, I will take Flirt."

  In another ten minutes the reports of the guns followed close uponeach other, and the boys had the satisfaction of knocking down twogeese and eight ducks, which Dash brought ashore, beside otherswhich escaped. In five minutes more they heard a shout from theirfather, who had bagged two more geese and three ducks. "That willdo, boys; we have got plenty for the next day or two, and we mustnot alarm them by too much slaughter."

  "Four geese and eleven ducks, papa, in five minutes," the boyssaid, when they joined Mr. Hardy; "that is not bad shooting tobegin with."

  "Not at all, boys. What with wild fowl and armadillos, I think thatat a pinch we could live for some time upon the produce of theestate."

  "You don't mean to say, papa, that they eat the armadillos?" Hubertsaid with a look of suspicion.

  "They do indeed, Hubert, and I am told that they are not at all badeating. Now let us go up to the rise again; our carts must benearly up."

  By the time they reached the three trees they found that the restof the cavalcade was within a quarter of a mile, and in a fewminutes they came up.

  The cattle and sheep required no attending. Immediately they foundthat they were not required to go any further, they scattered andbegan to graze. The oxen were unyoked from the carts, and all handsset-to to unload the miscellaneous collection of goods which hadbeen brought up. Only the things which Mr. Hardy had considered asmost indispensable for present use had been brought on, for thesteamer from Buenos Ayres did not carry heavy goods, and theagricultural implements and other baggage were to come up in asailing vessel, and were not expected to arrive for another week.

  The carts contained three small portmanteaus with the clothes ofMr. Hardy and the boys, and a large case containing the carbines,rifles, and ammunition. There was a number of canisters with tea,coffee, sugar, salt, and pepper; a sack of flour; some cooking potsand frying pans, tin plates, dishes, and mugs; two sacks of coaland a quantity of firewood; shovels, carpenter's tools, a sickle,the framework of a hut with two doors and windows, three rolls offelt, a couple of dozen wooden posts, and two large coils of ironwire. While the others were busy unloading the German had cut someturf and built a rough fireplace, and had soon a bright fireblazing.

  "Shall we pluck the ducks?" Charley asked.

  "I reckon we can manage quicker than that," the Yankee said; andtaking up one of the ducks, he cut off its head and pinions; inanother minute he had roughly skinned it, and threw it to theGerman, who cut it up and put the pieces into the frying pan. Asimilar process was performed with the other ducks, a little pepperand salt shaken over them, and in a wonderfully short time thefirst batch was ready. All drew round and sat down on the grass;the tin plates were distributed but were only used by Mr. Hardy andhis sons, the others simply taking the joints into their hands andcutting off pieces with their knives. The operation of skinning thefowls had not been pleasant to look at, and would at any other timehave taken away the boys' appetites; but their long ride had madethem too hungry to be particular. The result of this primitivecooking was pronounced to be excellent; and after drinking a mug oftea all felt ready for work.

  "What is to be done first, papa?"

  "The first thing is to get these posts into the ground, and to getup a wire fence, so as to make an enclosure for the animals atnight. We will put in five posts each side, at ten yards apart;that will take eighteen posts. With the others we can make adivision to separate the sheep from the cattle. Unless we do thissome of them may take it into their heads to start off in the nightand return to their old home."

  A spot was soon chosen between the house and the stream on theright. The distance was soon measured and marked; and while Hanscarried down the heavy posts one by one on his shoulder, the otherswent to work. The soil was soft and rich, and the holes were dug tothe required depth in a shorter time than would have beenconsidered possible. The wire was stretched and fastened, andbefore sunset everything was in readiness. The animals were drivenin, and the entrance, which was narrow, was blocked up withbrushwood from the river. Then followed another half-hour's work ingetting up a small shelter with the cases and some of the felting,for Mr. Hardy and his sons. By this time all were really tired, andwere glad when Hans summoned them to another meal, this time of oneof the sheep. Then Mr. Hardy, and the boys, taking their mugs oftea, retired into the shelter prepared for them, and sat and talkedover the events of the day, and as to the work for to-morrow; andthen, wrapping themselves up in their blankets, lay down to sleep,listening for some time dreamily to the hum of conversation of themen, who were sitting smoking round the fire, and to the hoarseroar of the innumerable frogs in the stream below.

  In the morning they were up and abroad with daylight, and a cup ofhot coffee and a piece of bread prepared them for work. Mr. Hardy,his boys, and the Yankee set-to upon the framework of the two huts;while the others went down to the stream and cut a quantity oflong, coarse rushes, which they made into bundles, and brought upto the place of the house in a bullock cart. The framework for thehuts, which were each about fifteen feet square, was all readyfitted and numbered: it took, therefore, a very short time toerect; and when one was done Mr. Hardy and the Yankee set-to toerect the other at a distance of from forty to fifty yards, whileCharley and Hubert drove in the nails and secured the work alreadydone.

  By dinner-time the work was complete, and a perfect stack of rusheshad been raised in readiness. A great number of long rods had beencut from the bushes, and as the most of them were as flexible andtough as willows they were well suited for the purpose.

  After dinner the whole party united their labor to get one of thehuts finished. The rods were split in two, and were nailed atintervals across the rafters of the roof. Upon them the long rusheswere laid, and over all the felt was nailed. The sides were treatedin the same way, except that the rushes were woven in and outbetween the wattles, so as to make quite a close, compact wall, nofelt being nailed on it. The other house was treated in the sameway; and it was not until the third night that both huts werefinished and ready for occupancy.

  Mr. Hardy and his sons then took possession of the one near thebrow of the hill. This was to be merely a temporary abode, to beremoved when the house was built. The men had that lower down, andrather nearer to the cattle. Beds of rushes were piled up in threecorners, and the boys thought that they had never passed such adelicious night as their first in their new house. The next day Mr.Hardy told his boys that they should take a holiday and ride overthe place.

  The press of work was over, and things would now settle down in aregular way. Hans and Terence had taken a contract to dig the holesfor the posts of the strong fence which was to surround the house,including a space of a hundred yards square. This precaution wasconsidered to be indispensable as a defense against the Indians.Seth, the Yankee, had similarly engaged to dig a well close to thehouse. No supervision of them was therefore necessary. Lopez was toaccompany them. Each took a double-barreled gun and a revolver. Theday was very fine--about as hot as upon a warm day in June inEngland. Mr. Hardy proposed that they should first ride westerly asfar as the property extended, six miles from the river; that theyshould then go to the south until they reached that boundary, andshould follow that to the river, by whose banks they should return,and bring back a bag of wild fowl for the larder. Quite a pack ofdogs accompanied them--the two mastiffs, the setters, and fourdogs, two of which belonged to Lopez, and the others to Hans andSeth: these last, seeing that their masters had no intention ofgoing out, determined to join the party upon thei
r own account.

  These dogs were all mongrels of no particular breed, but wereuseful in hunting, and were ready to attack a fox, an animal whichswarms upon the pampas, and does great damage among the younglambs.

  For the first three or four miles nothing was seen save theboundless green plain, extending in all directions; and then, uponascending a slight rise, they saw in the dip before them twoostriches. Almost simultaneously the creatures caught sight oftheir enemies, and went off at a prodigious rate, followed by thedogs and horsemen. For a time their pace was so fast that theirpursuers gained but little upon them. Presently, however, the dogsgained upon one of them, and, by their barking and snapping at it,impeded its movements. The horsemen were close together, and theboys had drawn out their revolvers to fire, when their fathercried, "Don't fire, boys! Watch Lopez."

  At this moment the gaucho took from the pommel of his saddle twoballs like large bullets, connected with a long cord. These hewhirled round his head, and launched them at the ostrich. Theystruck his legs, and twined themselves round and round, and inanother moment the bird was down in the dust. Before Lopez couldleap to the ground the dogs had killed it, and the gaucho pulledout the tail feathers and handed them to Mr. Hardy. "Is the fleshgood?" Mr. Hardy asked.

  "No, senor; we can eat it when there is nothing else to be had, butit is not good."

  "I am rather glad the other got away," Hubert said. "It seems cruelto kill them merely for the sake of the feathers."

  "Yes, Hubert; but the feathers are really worth money," Mr. Hardysaid. "I should be the last person to countenance the killing ofanything merely for the sake of killing; but one kills an ostrichas one would an animal with valuable fur. But what is that?"

  As he spoke the dogs halted in front of a patch of bush, barkingloudly. The retrievers and the native dogs kept at a prudentdistance, making the most furious uproar; but the mastiffsapproached slowly, with their coats bristling up, and evidentlyprepared for a contest with a formidable antagonist. "It must be alion!" Lopez exclaimed. "Get ready your revolvers, or he may injurethe dogs."

  The warning came too late. In another instant an animal leaped fromthe thicket, alighting immediately in front of Prince and Flora. Itwas as nearly as possible the same color as the mastiffs, andperhaps hardly stood so high; but he was a much heavier animal, andlonger in the back. The dogs sprang upon it. Prince, who was first,received a blow with its paw, which struck him down; but Flora hadcaught hold. Prince in an instant joined her, and the three wereimmediately rolling over and over on the ground in a confused mass.Mr. Hardy and Lopez at once leaped from their horses and rushed tothe spot; and the former, seizing his opportunity, placed hispistol close to the lion's ear, and terminated the contest in aninstant. The animal killed was a puma, called in South America alion; which animal, however, he resembles more in his color than inother respects. He has no mane, and is much inferior in power tothe African lion. They seldom attack men; but if assailed are veryformidable antagonists. The present one was, Lopez asserted, aremarkably large one.

  Mr. Hardy's first care was to examine the dogs. Prince's shoulderwas laid open by the stroke of the claws, and both dogs hadnumerous scratches. Flora had fortunately seized him by the neck,and he had thus been unable to use his teeth.

  Mr. Hardy determined to return home at once, in order to dressPrince's shoulder; and leaving Lopez to skin the puma, the resttook their way back. When they arrived the wounds of the dogs werecarefully washed, and a wet bandage was fastened with somedifficulty upon Prince's wound. Leaving all the dogs behind, withthe exception of the retrievers, Mr. Hardy and the boys started fora walk along the river, leading with them a horse to bring back thegame, as their former experience had taught them that carrying halfa dozen ducks and geese under a broiling sun was no joke. They werelonger this time than before in making a good bag; andafter-experience taught them that early in the morning or late inthe evening was the time to go down to the stream, for at thesetimes flights of birds were constantly approaching, and they couldalways rely upon coming home laden after an hour's shooting. Uponthe present occasion, however, they did not do badly, but returnedwith a swan, three geese, and twelve ducks, just in time to findthe men preparing for dinner.

  The next morning the two bullock carts were sent off with Hans andTerence to Rosario, to fetch the posts for the fence, together withtwo more coils of wire, which had been left there from want of roomin the carts when they came up. Charley was sent with them, inorder that he might find out if the sailing vessel had arrived withthe plows and heavy baggage. While he was away, Mr. Hardy andHubert were occupied in making a complete exploration of theproperty, and in erecting a storehouse for the goods.

  In five days Charley returned with the carts he had taken, and withfour others which he had hired at Rosario, bringing the heavybaggage, which had come in the day after he had arrived there. Thegoods were placed for the present in the new store, and then allhands set to work at the fence. Hans and Terence had already dugthe holes; and the putting in the posts, ramming the earth tightlyround them, and stretching the wires, took them two days.

  The usual defense in the outlying settlements against Indians is aditch six feet wide and as much deep; but a ditch of this width canbe easily leaped, both by men on horseback and on foot. The ditch,too, would itself serve as a shelter, as active men could have nodifficulty in getting out of it, and could surround the house bycreeping along the bottom of the ditch, and then openly attack allround at once, or crawl up unperceived by those who were upon thewatch on the other side.

  The fence had none of these disadvantages. It was six feet high.The wires were placed at six inches apart for four feet from thebottom, and at nine inches above that. Then the upper wires werenot stretched quite so tightly as the lower ones, rendering itextremely difficult to climb over. In this way an attacking partywould have no protection whatever, and would, while endeavoring toclimb the fence, be helplessly exposed to the fire of those in thehouse. Those who got over, too, could receive no assistance fromtheir comrades without, while their retreat would be completely cutoff.

  The gateway to the fence was an ordinary strong iron gate which Mr.Hardy had bought at Rosario, and to which strong pointed palings,six feet long, were lashed side by side, with intervals of sixinches between them. This was the finishing touch to thefortification; and all felt when it was done that they couldwithstand the attack of a whole tribe of Indians.

  The carts were again sent off to Rosario to bring back some morewood, from which to make the framework of the house. Hubert thistime accompanied them, as Mr. Hardy wished the boys to become asself-reliant as possible. He was also to hire three peons, ornative laborers. Before he started the plan of the future house wasdiscussed and agreed upon. In the middle was to be the generalsitting-room, fifteen feet square; upon one side was the kitchen,fifteen by ten and a half; upon the other, the servants' bedroom,of the same size; behind were three bedrooms, twelve feet byfifteen each, all opening from the sitting-room. The house,therefore, was to form a block thirty-six feet by thirty.

  Upon the side next to the kitchen, and opening from it, a smallsquare tower with two stories in it was to stand. It was to be tenfeet square; the lower room to be a laundry and scullery, and theone above, approached by straight wooden steps, to be thestorehouse. The roof was to be flat, with a parapet three feethigh. From this a clear view could be had over the country formiles, and the whole circuit of the fence commanded in case ofattack. The walls of the house were to be of adobe or mud theinternal partitions of sun-baked bricks.