On the Pampas; Or, The Young Settlers

by G. A. Henty

  CHAPTER VIII.

  FARM WORK AND AMUSEMENTS.

  Although but two months had elapsed since the ground was plowed upand planted, the progress made by the crop of maize and pumpkinswas surprising: the former, especially, was now nearly six feethigh. This rapid growth was the result of the extreme fertility ofthe virgin soil, aided by the late abundant supply of water, andthe heat of the sun. The maize had given them all a great deal todo; for when it was about six inches high it had to be thinned outso that the plants were nine or ten inches apart. This had beendone by the united strength of the party, Mr. Hardy and the boysworking for two hours each morning, and as much in the evening. Thegirls also had assisted, and the peons had worked the whole day,except from eleven to three, when the heat was too great even forthem. Many hands make light work, and in consequence the wholeground under maize cultivation was thinned in little over a week.Latterly the maize had grown so fast that the boys declared theycould almost see it grow, and at the end of two months after sowingit was all in flower. The maize, or Indian corn, strongly resembleswater rushes in appearance, and the feathery blossom also resemblesthat of the rush. Indian corn forms the main article of food inSouth America, and in all but the Northern States of North America.It is equally useful and common in India, and in other tropicalcountries.

  Scarcely less is it used in Italy, and other parts of southernEurope. It was first introduced into Europe from the East by thegreat family of Polenta, who ruled the important town of Ravennafor nearly two hundred years. Ground maize is still called Polentathroughout Italy; and the great family will live in the name of theuseful cereal they introduced when all memory of their warlikedeeds is lost except to the learned.

  One evening when Mr. Hardy, with his wife and children, wasstrolling down in the cool of the evening to look with pleasureupon the bright green of their healthy and valuable crops, Hubertsaid:

  "Isn't Indian corn, papa, the great yallow heads covered withgrain-like beads one sees in corn-dealers' shops in England?"

  "Yes, Hubert."

  "Well, if that is so, I cannot make out how those long delicatestems can bear the weight. They bend over like corn to every puffof wind. It does not seem possible that they could bear a quarterof the weight of their heavy yellow heads."

  "Nor could they, Hubert; but nature has made a wise and veryextraordinary provision for this difficulty. All other plants andtrees with which I am acquainted have their fruits or seeds wherethe blossom before grew. In maize it is placed in an entirelydifferent part of the plant. In a very short time you willsee--indeed you may see now in most of the plants--the stalk beginto thicken at a foot or eighteen inches from the ground, and in alittle time it will burst; and the head of maize, so enveloped inleaves that it looks a mere bunch of them, will come forth. It willfor a time grow larger and larger, and then the plant will witherand die down to the place from which the head springs. The partthat remains will dry up until the field appears covered with deadstumps, with bunches of dead leaves at the top. Then it is readyfor the harvest."

  "What a strange plant, papa! I quite long for the time when theheads will come out. What are you going to plant upon that bit ofland you have got ready for sowing now? It is about six acres."

  "I mean to plant cotton there, Hubert. I have sent to Buenos Ayresfor seeds of what are called Carolina Upland, and I expect themhere in a few days."

  "But it takes a great deal of labor, does it not, papa?"

  "The calculation in the Northern States, Hubert, is that one mancan cultivate eight acres of cotton, assisted by his wife andchildren at certain periods; and that as his labor is not alwaysrequired, he can with his family cultivate another eight or tenacres of other produce; so that about half of a peon's labor willbe required, and in the hoeing and picking time we can all help."

  "Is not machinery required to separate the seeds from the cotton?"Charley asked.

  "It is not absolutely necessary, Charley, although it is of courseeconomical when the cultivation is carried on upon a large scale.The variety I am going to try is sometimes called 'bowed' Carolina,because it used to be cleaned by placing it upon a number ofstrings stretched very tight, which were struck with a sort of bow,and the vibration caused the seed to separate from the cotton. Ihave a drawing of one of these contrivances in a book up at thehouse, and when the time comes you fellows shall make me one. Itwill be work for us to do indoors when the weather is too hot to beout. Of course if I find that it succeeds, and pays well, I shalltake on more hands, get proper machinery, and extend thecultivation. I intend to plant the rows rather wide apart, so as touse the light plow with the ridge boards between them, instead ofhoeing, to save labor."

  "How much cotton do they get from an acre?" Mrs. Hardy asked.

  "In the Southern States they expect twelve hundred pounds upon newground--that is, twelve hundred pounds of pods, which make aboutthree hundred of cleaned cotton. When I have got the cotton fairlyin the ground I mean to plant an acre or two of tobacco, and thesame quantity of sugar cane, as an experiment. But before I do thatwe must make a garden up at the house: that is a really urgentneed."

  "Couldn't we grow rice here, papa?"

  "No doubt we could, Hubert; but I do not mean to try it. To succeedwith rice, we should have to keep the ground on which it grew in astate of swamp, which would be very unhealthy. That is why I do notirrigate the fields oftener than is absolutely necessary. Anythingapproaching swampy, or even wet lands, in a climate like this,would be almost certain to breed malaria. Besides, we should beeaten alive by mosquitoes. No, I shall certainly not try rice.Other tropical productions I shall some day give a trial to.Ginger, vanilla, and other things would no doubt flourish here. Ido not believe that any of them would give an extraordinary rate ofprofit, for though land is cheap, labor is scarce. Still it wouldbe interesting, and would cause a little variety and amusement inour work, which is always an important point, and no doubt therewould be generally some profit, though occasionally we may make atotal failure."

  Very often at daybreak the girls would go down with their brothersto the river, and watch the waterfowl on its surface; they were soamusing as they dabbled and played in the water, unsuspicious ofdanger. Their favorites, though, were the beautiful scarletflamingoes, with their slender legs, and their long, gracefulnecks, and whose great employment seemed to be to stand quiet inthe water, where it was only two or three inches deep, and to preentheir glossy red feathers. Over and over again the girls wishedthat they could get a few waterfowl, especially flamingoes, to tamethem, in order that they might swim on the dam pond and come and befed; and the boys had several talks with each other as to the mostpracticable way of capturing some of them. At last they thought ofmaking a sort of enclosure of light boughs, with an entrance intowhich birds could easily pass, but through which they could noteasily return, and to scatter grain up to and into the enclosure,to entice the birds to enter. On explaining this plan to Mr. Hardy,he said that he had no doubt that it would succeed in capturingbirds, but that when caught it would be impossible to tamefull-grown wild-fowl, and that the only plan was to find theirnests, and take the eggs or very young birds. This they determinedto do; and as the bushes close to the river were too thick topermit an examination from the shore, they started one morningearly, and, going down to the river, entered it, and waded alongfor a considerable distance. They discovered two swans' nests, andseveral of different descriptions of ducks. In some the birds weresitting upon their eggs, in others the young brood were justhatched, and scuttled away into the bushes with the parent birdsupon being disturbed.

  Charley and Hubert made no remark at breakfast upon the success oftheir expedition; but when Charley went two days after to Rosario,he procured from Mr. Percy, who kept a quantity of chickens, twositting hens. These were placed with their nests in the bullockcart in a hamper; and Mrs. Hardy, who had no idea of the purpose towhich they were to be put, was quite pleased, on their arrival atMount Pleasant, at this addition to the henhouse. Indeed it hadbeen lon
g agreed that they would keep hens as soon as the maize wasripe. The next morning the boys went again, and brought back twentyeggs of various kinds of wild duck, including four swans' eggs--toobtain which they had to shoot the parent birds, which furnishedthe larder for days--which they placed under the hens in place oftheir own eggs, and then took the girls in triumph to see thiscommencement of their tame duck project. The little girls weredelighted, and it was an immense amusement to them to go downconstantly to see if the eggs were hatched, as of course no onecould tell how long they had been sat upon previous to being taken.They had remarked that four of the eggs were much larger than theothers, but had no idea that they were swans'. In the course of afew days six of the young ducklings were hatched, and the hens wereboth so unhappy at their difficulty of continuing to sit while theyhad the care of their young ones on their mind, that one hen andall the little ones were removed to a distance from the other'snest, and the whole of the eggs were put under the remaining hen.The four swans and five more ducks were safely hatched, when thehen refused to sit longer, and the remaining eggs were lost. Nowthat the swans were safely hatched, the boys told their sisterswhat they really were, and their delight was extreme.

  In a few days they were all taken down to the dam, and soon foundtheir way into the water, to the great distress of theirfoster-mother, who was obliged to stand upon the bank calling invain till the little ones chose to come ashore. A hencoop was soonknocked together from an old box, and this was placed near the dam,and ere long the hens became accustomed to the fancy of theircharges for the water, and would walk about picking up insectswhile the little ones swam about on the pond. Twice a day the girlswent down to feed them with grain and bits of boiled pumpkin--forthe pumpkins soon began to come into bearing--and the ducklings andcygnets, which last were at present but little larger than theothers, would swim rapidly toward them when they saw them, andwould feed greedily out of their hands.

  It was not for some weeks later that the desire for youngflamingoes was gratified. The boys had been out for a ride, andcoming upon the river where it was wide, with flat sandy banks,round which the timber grew, they determined to tie up theirhorses and enter the stream, to see if they could get some moreeggs. With some difficulty they made their way through the bushes,and, getting into the water, waded along until a turn in the riverbrought them in sight of the flat bank. There were some twenty orthirty flamingoes upon it, for these birds are very gregarious.Some were standing in the water as usual, but the boys could notmake out what some of the others were doing. On the flat shore wereseveral heaps of earth, and across them some of the birds wereapparently sitting with one leg straddling out each side. Socomical was their aspect that the boys burst into a laugh, which soscared the flamingoes that they all took flight instantly. The boysnow waded up to the spot, and then got ashore to see what thesestrange heaps were for. To their great delight they found that theywere nests, and upon the top of several of them were eight or nineeggs carefully arranged. The legs of the flamingo are so long thatthe bird is unable to double them up and sit upon his nest in theusual fashion. The hen bird therefore scrapes together a pile ofearth, on the top of which she lays her eggs, and then placesherself astride to keep them warm. The boys had an argument whetherthey should take away two nests entire, or whether they should takea few eggs from each nest; but they decided upon the former plan,in order that each of the young broods might be hatchedsimultaneously. Upon the boys reaching home with their treasuretheir sisters' delight was unbounded, and the hens were soon placedupon their new charges, and, both being good sitters, took to themwithout much difficulty.

  When the young broods were hatched the girls were greatlydisappointed at the appearance of little grayish fluffy balls,instead of the lovely red things they had expected, and were by nomeans consoled when their father told them that it would be threeor four years before they gained their beautiful color. However,they became great pets, and were very droll, with their long legs,and slender necks, and great curved bills. They became extremelytame, and would, after a time, follow the girls about, and stalk upto the house of their own accord to be fed, their food always beingplaced in water, as they never feed by picking upon the ground, forwhich, indeed, the peculiar construction of their beak is entirelyunfitted. They were perfectly fearless of the dogs, which, on theirpart, were too well trained to touch them; and their funny way andtheir extreme tameness were a source of constant amusement to thewhole family.

  But we must now retrace our steps. After the important work ofgetting a certain amount of land under cultivation, the next mosturgent business was the formation of a garden. The land inside theenclosure round the house was first plowed up, and then dug byhand, the turf being left in front of the house to serve as a lawn.The rest was planted with seeds brought from England--peas, beans,tomatoes, vegetable marrows, cucumbers, melons, and many others,some of which were natives of warm climates, while others wereplanted in small patches as an experiment. Fortunately, the wellsupplied an abundance of water, whose only drawback was that, likemost water upon the pampas, it had a strong saline taste, whichwas, until they had become accustomed to it, very disagreeable tothe Hardys. As the well had been dug close to the house on thehighest part of the slope, the water was conducted from the pump bysmall channels all over the garden; and the growth of the variousvegetables was surprising. But long before these could come intobearing a welcome supply was afforded by the yams and Indian corn.The yams resemble a sweet potato; and if the Indian corn isgathered green, and the little corns nibbled off, boiled, and mixedwith a little butter, they exactly resemble the most delicate anddelicious young peas.

  The young potatoes, too, had come in, so that they had now anabundance of vegetables, the only point in which they had beforebeen deficient. Their drink was the _mate_, which may betermed the national beverage of Paraguay, Brazil, and the ArgentineRepublic. It is made from the leaves of the _mate Yule_, aplant which grows in Paraguay and Brazil. The natives generallydrink it without sugar or milk, sucking it up from the vessel inwhich it is made through a small tube. It is, however, greatlyimproved by the addition of sugar and milk, or, better still,cream. This greatly softens the bitter taste which distinguishesit. None of the party liked it at first; but as they were assuredby those in the country that they would like it when they becameaccustomed to it, they persevered, and after a time all came toprefer it even to tea.

  Occasionally one or other of the boys went over to Rosario with thecart, and Mr. Hardy bought some hundreds of young fruittrees--apple, pear, plum, apricot, and peach--some of which wereplanted in the garden at the sides and in rear of the house, othersin the open beyond and round it; a light fence with one wire beingput up to keep the cattle from trespassing. Clumps of young palms,bananas, and other tropical trees and shrubs were also plantedabout for the future adornment of the place. Fences were erectedround the cultivated ground, and an enclosure was made, into whichthe cattle were driven at night. These fences were easily andcheaply made. The wire cost little more at Rosario than it wouldhave done in England, and the chief trouble was bringing the posts,which were made of algaroba wood, from the town. This wood growsabundantly upon the upper river, and is there cut down and floatedin great rafts down to Rosario. It is a tough wood, which splitsreadily, and is therefore admirably suited for posts. It is of areddish color, and has a pretty grain when polished. All thefurniture was made of it; and this, from constant rubbing by Sarahand the girls, now shone brightly, and had a very good effect.

  The ceilings were now put to the rooms, which were greatly improvedin appearance thereby, and the difference in temperature was verymarked. A very short time after the capture of the wild fowls' eggsit was unanimously agreed that chickens were indispensable, and alarge hen-house was accordingly built at a short distance from thedam, as it was considered as well not to have any buildings, withthe exception of the men's hut, near the house. The hen-house wasquickly built, as it was a mere framework covered with felt, withbars across it for the fowls to perch
upon.

  The floor was made, as that of the house had been, of lime and claybeaten hard; and a small cut was made to the dam, by which watercould, at will, be turned over the floor to keep it clean and neat.The next time the cart went to Rosario it brought back fifty fowls,which had only cost a few dollars. Henceforth eggs and omeletsbecame a regular part of the breakfast, and the puddings werenotably improved.

  The chickens gave very little trouble, as they foraged about forthemselves, finding an abundance of insects everywhere, and gettingin addition a few pots of Indian corn every morning. Maud and Etheltook it by turns, week about, to take charge of the hen-house; anda great pleasure was it to them to watch the numerous broods ofyoung chickens, and to hunt up the eggs which, in spite of thenests temptingly prepared for them, the hens would frequentlypersist in laying in nests of their own in the long grass.

  The hens had, however, a numerous foe, who were a great trouble totheir young mistresses. These were the skunks, an animal of theweasel tribe, but much resembling squirrels in appearance, andpossessing a most abominable smell; so much so that the dogs, whowould attack almost anything, would run away from them. They wereat first exceedingly common, and created terrible depredationsamong the hens. The girls were in despair, and called in theirbrothers to their assistance. The boys shot a good many, for theanimals were very tame and fearless; but their number was so greatthat this method of destruction was of slight avail. They thenprepared traps of various kinds--some made by an elastic stick bentdown, with a noose at the end, placed at a small entrance leftpurposely in the hen-house, so that, when the skunk was about toenter, he touched a spring, and the stick released, flew into theair carrying the animal with it with the noose round its neck;other traps let fall a heavy piece of wood, which crushed theinvader; and in these ways the skunks were pretty well got rid of,the most unpleasant work being the removal of the body from thetrap. This had to be effected by taking hold of it with two piecesof wood, for the odor was so powerful that if the body was touchedthe smell would remain on the hands for days.

  They had now added another species of domestic animal to theirstock, but this was the boys' charge. Mr. Hardy, when the pumpkinsbegan to ripen, bought six pigs. They were of little trouble, foralthough a sty was built for them, they were allowed to wanderabout as they pleased by day, another wire being added to the fenceround the cultivated land, to keep them from trespassing. The cropof pumpkins was enormous; and Mr. Hardy determined that no pigsshould be killed for eighteen months, by which time, as theseanimals increase rapidly, there would be quite a large herd ofthem.

  Although an immense deal of hard work was got through during thefour months which followed the completion of the house and thearrival of Mrs. Hardy and her daughters, it must not be supposedthat it was not mingled with plenty of relaxation and amusement.

  There were few days when one or other of the boys did not go outwith his gun for an hour either before sunrise or after sunset,seldom failing to bring home a wild fowl or two of some kind orother. And sometimes of an afternoon they would go out for a ridewith their sisters, and have a chase after an ostrich, or a runafter the gray foxes, which abounded, and were very destructiveamong the young lambs. Once or twice during these rides the boysbrought a puma to bay; but as they always carried a ball in one oftheir barrels, with these and their revolvers they soon dispatchedtheir unwelcome visitors.

  They had contrived an apparatus with straps and a sort of littlepocket, in which the muzzle of the gun went, so that it hung fromthe saddle down in front of their leg; the stock of the gun beingsecured by a strap against the pommel of the saddle, at the otherside of which was their revolver holster. This was an inconvenientway of carrying the gun in some respects, as the strap had to beunfastened to get at it, and the chance of a shot thereby lost; butthey considered it preferable to the mode they had at firstadopted, of riding with their guns slung behind them. This theygave up, because, with the utmost care, they occasionally got afall, when galloping, from the armadillo holes, and the shock wasgreatly increased from the weight of the gun, besides the risk, toany one riding near, of the gun exploding. When riding quietly, andupon the lookout for game, they carried the gun in readiness upontheir arms.

  It was after one of these rides, when Hubert had brought down witha bullet a swan which was making for his bed in the river, thatMaud said at tea:

  "I wish we could shoot too; it would be a great amusement, and Ishould enjoy my rides a good deal more if I knew that I could takea shot in case a lion or a deer came out."

  "Well, girls," Mr. Hardy said, "I had always intended that youshould learn to shoot. We have had so much to do since you camehere that I did not think of it, and I had besides intended to waituntil one of you expressed a desire to learn. I brought out threelight rook-shooting rifles on purpose for you and your mamma, andyou can begin to-morrow morning if you like."

  "Oh, thank you, papa, thank you very, very much; that will benice!" both the girls exclaimed, clapping their hands in theirexcitement.

  "And what do you say, mamma?" Mr. Hardy asked.

  "No, thank you," Mrs. Hardy said; "I have plenty to do, and, with ahusband and two sons and two daughters to defend me, I do notconsider that it is essential. But I think that it will be a niceamusement for the girls."

  And so next morning, and nearly every morning afterward, the girlspracticed with the light rifle at a mark, until in time their handsbecame so steady that at short distances of sixty or seventy yardsthey could beat their brothers, who were both really good shots.This was principally owing to the fact that the charge of powderused in these rifles was so small that there was scarcely anyrecoil to disturb the aim. It was some time before they couldmanage to hit anything flying; but they were very proud one eveningwhen, having been out late with the boys, a fat goose came alongoverhead, and the girls firing simultaneously, he fell with bothbullets in his body. After this they, too, carried their rifles outwith them during their rides.

  Any one who had known Maud and Ethel Hardy at home would havescarcely recognized them now in the sunburnt-looking lassies, whosat upon their horses as if they had never known any other seat intheir lives. Their dress, too, would have been most curious toEnglish eyes. They wore wide straw hats, with a white scarf woundround the top to keep off the heat. Their dresses were very short,and made of brown holland, with a garibaldi of blue-coloredflannel. They wore red flannel knickerbockers, and gaiters comingup above the knee, of a very soft, flexible leather, made of deer'sskin. These gaiters were an absolute necessity, for the placeliterally swarmed with snakes, and they constantly found them inthe garden when going out to gather vegetables. Most of thesesnakes were harmless; but as some of them were very deadly, theprotection of the gaiters was quite necessary. The girls did notlike them at first, especially as their brothers could not helpjoking them a little, and Hubert said that they reminded him of twoyellow-legged partridges. However, they soon became accustomed tothem, and felt so much more comfortable about snakes afterward thatthey would not have given them up upon any account.

  The boys always wore high boots for the same reason, and had nofear whatever of the snakes; but Mr. Hardy insisted that each ofthem should always carry in a small inner pocket of their coats aphial of spirits of ammonia, a small surgical knife, and a piece ofwhipcord; the same articles being always kept in readiness at thehouse. His instructions were, that in case of a bite they shouldfirst suck the wound, then tie the whipcord round the limb abovethe place bitten, and that they should then cut deeply into thewound crossways, open it as much as possible, and pour in somespirits of ammonia; that they should then pour the rest of theammonia into their water-bottle, which they always carried slungover their shoulders, and should drink it off. If these directionswere instantly and thoroughly carried out, Mr. Hardy had littlefear that the bite, even of the deadliest snake, would prove fatal.In addition he ordered that in case of their being near home theyshould, upon their arrival, be made to drink raw spirits until theycould not stand, and that, if th
ey were some distance away fromhome, and were together, the one bitten should lie down while theother galloped at full speed to take back a bottle of brandy, andorder assistance to be sent. This remedy is well known throughoutIndia. Any one bitten by a poisonous snake is made to drinkspirits, which he is able to do without being affected by them, toan extraordinary extent; a man who at ordinary times could scarcelytake a strong tumbler of spirits and water, being able, whenbitten, to drink a bottle of pure brandy without being in the leastaffected by it. When the spirit does at last begin to take effect,and the patient shows signs of drunkenness, he is considered to besafe, the poison of the spirit having overcome the poison of thesnake.