On the Pampas; Or, The Young Settlers

by G. A. Henty

  CHAPTER II.

  THE START.

  It was nearly a year after he had made up his mind to emigratebefore Mr. Hardy was able to conclude all his arrangements. Thencame the great business of packing up. This is no trifling matterwhen a family of six persons are going to make a move to a newcountry. Mr. Hardy had at first thought of taking portablefurniture with him, but had been told by a friend who knew thecountry that every requisite could be obtained at Buenos Ayres, thecapital of the Argentine Republic, at a far less price than hecould convey such heavy articles from England. Still the bulk ofluggage was very large; and the boys, who had now left off theirfarming and carpentering lessons, worked at home at packing-cases,and had the satisfaction of turning their new acquirements to auseful purpose. In addition to the personal baggage, Mr. Hardy wastaking with him plows and agricultural implements of English make,besides a good stock of seeds of various kinds. These had been senton direct by a sailing ship, starting a fortnight beforethemselves. When their heavy baggage was packed up it too was sentoff, so as to be put on board the steamer by which they were tosail; and then came a long round of visits to bid farewell to alltheir friends. This was a sad business; for although the boys andtheir sisters were alike excited and delighted at the thought ofthe life before them, still they could not but feel sorrowful whenthe time came to leave all the friends they had known so long, andthe house they had lived in ever since they could remember.

  This over Mrs. Hardy and the children went to Liverpool, where theywere to embark; while Mr. Hardy remained behind for a day or two,to see to the sale of the furniture of the house. The day after hejoined the family they embarked on board the Barbadoes, for Rio andBuenos Ayres. Greatly were the girls amused at the tiny littlecabin allotted to them and their mother--a similar little den beingtaken possession of by Mr. Hardy and the boys. The smartness of thevessel, and the style of her fittings, alike impressed anddelighted them. It has not been mentioned that Sarah, theirhousemaid, accompanied the party. She had been left early anorphan, and had been taken as a nursemaid by Mrs. Hardy. As timewent on, and the little girls no longer required a nurse, she hadremained as housemaid, and having no friends, now willinglyaccompanied them. Mr. Hardy had, to her great amusement, insistedupon her signing a paper, agreeing, upon her master's paying herpassage, to remain with him for a year; at the end of which timeshe was to be at liberty to marry or to leave them, should shechoose.

  Knowing the scarcity of young Englishwomen in the country that theywere going to, and the number of Englishmen doing well in the townsor as farmers, Mr. Hardy had considered this precaution to beabsolutely necessary; as otherwise Sarah might have married andleft them within a month of her arrival. At the end of a year herso doing would not matter so much, as by that time the party would-becomfortably settled in their new home; whereas during thenecessary hardship at first, it would be a great comfort having afaithful and reliable servant.

  The last looks which the party cast toward England, as the Welshcoast sank in the distance, were less melancholy than those of mostemigrants. The young people were all full of hope and excitement;while even Mrs. Hardy felt but little disposed to give way tosorrow, as it had been arranged that in three or four years, if allwent well, she should bring her daughters over to England to finishtheir education.

  Very lovely was that first evening, and as they sat in a grouptogether upon deck the little girls remarked that they did notthink that the sea was anything like as terrible as they hadexpected, and that they did not feel the least seasick. Theirfather smiled: "Wait a little, my dears; there is an old proverb,'Don't halloo until you are out of the wood.'"

  The next day was still perfectly calm; and when, toward evening,the children were told that they were now fairly getting into theBay of Biscay, they could scarcely believe the intelligence.

  "Why, one would think, Maud," her father said, "that you weredisappointed at its being calm, and that you really wanted astorm."

  "Oh, papa, I do think it would be great fun; it would be so curiousnot to be able to walk about, and to see everything rolling andtumbling. Don't you think so, boys?"

  "Yes, I think so, Maud; great fun," Charley said.

  "Well, young people," the captain, who had been standing bywatching the sun, now fast nearing the horizon, and who hadoverheard their remarks, said, "if it is any satisfaction to you, Ican tell you that you are very likely to have your wish gratified.But I question if you will like it as much as you expect."

  "Ah, you expect wind, Captain Trevor?" Mr. Hardy said. "I have beenthinking myself that the almost oppressive stillness of to-day, andthe look of the sunset, and these black clouds banking up in thesouthwest, meant a change. What does the glass say?"

  "It is falling very rapidly," the captain answered. "We are in fora sou'wester, and a stiff one too, or I am mistaken."

  Now that it appeared likely that their wishes were about to begratified, the young Hardys did not seem so pleased as they hadexpected, although Charley still declared manfully that he wasquite in earnest, and that he did wish to see a real storm at sea.

  As the sun set the party still leaned against the bulwarks watchingit, and the great bank of clouds, which seemed every moment to berising higher and higher. There was still nearly a dead calm aroundthem, and the heavy beat of the paddles, as they lashed the waterinto foam, and the dull thud of the engine, were the only soundsthat broke the stillness. Now and then, however, a short puff ofwind ruffled the water, and then died away again.

  "Look at that great cloud, papa," Hubert said; "it almost looks asif it were alive."

  "Yes, Hubert, it is very grand; and there is no doubt about therebeing wind there."

  The great cloud bank appeared to be in constant motion. Its shapewas incessantly shifting and changing; now a great mass would rollupward, now sink down again; now the whole body would seem to rollover and over upon itself; then small portions would break off fromthe mass, and sail off by themselves, getting thinner and thinner,and disappearing at last in the shape of fine streamers.Momentarily the whole of the heaving, swelling mass rose higher andhigher. It was very grand, but it was a terrible grandeur; and theothers were quite inclined to agree with Ethel, who shrank close toher father, and put her hand in his, saying, "I don't like thatcloud, papa; it frightens me."

  At this moment Mrs. Hardy, who had been down below arranging hercabin, came up to the group. "What a dark cloud, Frank; and how itmoves. Are we going to have a storm, do you think?"

  "Well, Clara, I think that we are in for a gale; and if you willtake my advice, you will go down at once while it is calm, and seethat the trunks, and everything that can roll about, are securelyfastened up. I will come down and help you. Boys, you had better godown and see that everything is snug in our cabin."

  In a quarter of an hour the necessary arrangements were completed,but even in that short time they could feel that a change wastaking place. There was now a steady but decided rolling motion,and the young ones laughed as they found it difficult to walksteadily along the cabin.

  Upon reaching the deck they saw that the smooth surface of the seawas broken up by a long swell, that the wind now came in short butsharp puffs, that the bank of clouds covered nearly half the sky,and that the detached scud was now flying overhead. The previousstillness was gone; and between the sudden gusts, the roar of thewind in the upper region could be heard. The sun had set now, and apall of deep blackness seemed to hang from the cloud down to thesea; but at the line where cloud and water touched, a gleam of dimwhite light appeared.

  In preparation for the coming storm, the sailors had put on thickwaterproof coats. Many of the passengers had gone below, and thosewho remained had followed the sailors' example, and had wrappedthemselves up in mackintoshes.

  Every moment the gusts increased in frequency and power, and theregular line of swell became broken up into confused white-headedwaves. The white gleam under the dark cloud grew wider and broader,and at last, with a roar like that of a thousand wild beasts, thegale b
roke upon them. Just before this Mr. Hardy had taken Mrs.Hardy and the girls below, promising the latter that they shouldcome up later for a peep out, if they still wished it. Charley andHubert were leaning against the bulwark when the gale struck them.

  For a moment they were blinded and half-choked by the force andfury of the spray and wind, and crouched down behind their shelterto recover themselves. Then, with a hearty laugh at their drenchedappearance, they made their way to the mainmast, and then, holdingon by the belaying pins, they were able to look fairly out on thegale. It was dark--so dark that they could scarcely see as far asthe foremast. Around, the sea was white with foam; the wind blew sofiercely that they could scarcely hear each other's voices, evenwhen they shouted, and the steamer labored heavily against the fastrising sea. Here Mr. Hardy joined them, and for some little timeclung there, watching the increasing fury of the gale; then,drenched and almost confused by the strife of winds and water thatthey had been watching, they made their way, with great difficulty,down into the cabin.

  Here the feeling of seasickness, which the excitement of the scenehad kept off, increased rapidly; and they were glad to slip offtheir upper clothes, and to throw themselves upon their berthsbefore the paroxysm of sickness came on.

  When questioned afterward as to the events of the next thirty-sixhours, the young Hardys were all obliged to confess that that timewas a sort of blank in their memory--a sort of horrible nightmare,when one moment they seemed to be on their heads, and the next upontheir feet, but never lying down in a comfortable position, whensometimes the top of the cabin seemed under their feet, sometimesthe floor over their head. Then, for a change, everything would goround and round; the noise, too, the groaning and the thumping andthe cracking, the thud of the waves and the thump of the paddles,and the general quivering, and shaking, and creaking, andbewilderment--altogether it was a most unpleasant nightmare. Theyhad all dim visions of Mr. Hardy coming in several times to seeafter them, and to give them a cup of tea, and to say somethingcheering to them; and all four had a distinct idea that they hadmany times wished themselves dead.

  Upon the second morning after the storm began it showed some signsof abating, and Mr. Hardy said to his sons, "Now, boys, make aneffort and come upon deck; it's no use lying there; the fresh airwill do you good." Two dismal groans were the only response to thisappeal.

  "Yes, I know that you both feel very bad, and that it is difficultto turn out; still it is worth making the effort, and you will bevery glad of it afterward. Come, jump up, else I shall empty thewater-jug over you. There, you need not take much trouble with yourdressing," he went on, as the boys, seeing that he was in earnest,turned out of their berths with a grievous moan. "Just hold on bysomething, and get your heads over the basin; I will empty the jugson them. There now you will feel better; slip on your clothes andcome up."

  It was hard work for Charley and Hubert to obey orders, for theship rolled so tremendously that they could only proceed with theirdressing by fits and starts, and were more than once interrupted byattacks of their weary seasickness. However, their father stayedwith them, helping and joking with them until they were ready to goup. Then, taking them by the arm, he assisted them up the stairs tothe deck.

  Miserable as the boys felt, they could not suppress an exclamationof admiration at the magnificent scene before them. The sea wastossed up in great masses of water, which, as they neared the ship,threatened to overwhelm them, but which, as she rose on theirsummits, passed harmlessly under her, hurling, however, tons ofwater upon her deck. The wind was still blowing fiercely, but arift in the clouds above, through, which the sun threw down abright ray of light upon the tossing water, showed that the galewas breaking.

  The excitement of the scene, the difficulty of keeping their feet,and the influence of the rushing wind, soon had the effect whichtheir father predicted. The boys' looks brightened, their couragereturned; and although they still had an occasional relapse ofsickness, they felt quite different beings, and would not havereturned to the blank misery of their cabins upon any consideration.They were soon able to eat a piece of dry toast, which Mr. Hardybrought them up with a cup of tea at breakfast-time, and to enjoy abasin of soup at twelve o'clock, after which they pronouncedthemselves as cured.

  By the afternoon the force of the wind had greatly abated, andalthough a heavy sea still ran, the motion of the vessel wasperceptibly easier. The sun, too, shone out brightly and cheeringly,and Mr. Hardy was able to bring the little girls, who had not sufferedso severely as their brothers, upon deck. Two more days of fineweather quite recruited all the party; and great was their enjoymentas the Barbadoes entered the Tagus, and, steaming between itspicturesque banks and past Cintra, dropped her anchor off Lisbon.

  As our object, however, is to relate the adventures of our youngsettlers upon the Pampas of La Plata, we must not delay to describethe pleasure they enjoyed in this their first experience in foreignlands, nor to give an account of their subsequent voyage across theAtlantic, or their admiration at the superb harbor of Rio. A fewdays' further steaming and they arrived at the harbor of BuenosAyres, where the two great rivers, the Uruguay and the Parana,unite to form the wide sheet of water called the river La Plata. Itwas night when the Barbadoes dropped her anchor, and it was notuntil the morning that they obtained their first view of theirfuture home.

  Very early were they astir, and as soon as it was broad daylightall four of the young ones were up on deck. Their first exclamationwas one of disappointment. The shores were perfectly flat, and,seen from the distance at which they were anchored, little exceptthe spires of the churches and the roofs of a few of the more loftyhouses could be seen. After the magnificent harbor of Rio, thisflat, uninteresting coast was most disappointing.

  "What a distance we are anchored from the shore!" Hubert said, whenthey had recovered a little from their first feeling. "It must bethree or four miles off."

  "Not so much as that, Hubert," Maud, who was just a little fond ofcontradicting, said; "not more than two miles, I should think."

  Hubert stuck to his opinion; and as the captain came on deck theyreferred the matter to him.

  "The distance of objects across water is very deceiving," he said."It is from eight to nine miles to those buildings you see."

  Maud looked rather crestfallen, and Charley asked, "Why do weanchor such a long way off, captain?"

  "Because the shore is so flat that there is no water for us to getin any closer. In a couple of hours you will see boats coming outto fetch you in; and unless it happens to be high tide, even thesecannot get to the beach, and you will have to land in carts."

  "In carts, Captain Trevor?" they all repeated; "that will be astrange way of landing."

  "Yes, it is," the captain answered. "I think that we can safely saythat the Argentine Republic is the only country in the world wherethe only way to land at its chief city is in a cart."

  The captain's boat was by this time lowered, and he at once startedfor shore with his papers. Soon after ten o'clock he returned,followed by a number of boats. He brought also a letter to Mr.Hardy from an old friend who had been settled for some years nearBuenos Ayres, and whose advice had decided him to fix upon thatcountry as the scene of his labors. It contained a warm welcome,and a hearty congratulation upon their safe arrival. This letterhad been written two or three days previously, and had been left atthe office of the steamship company. It said, however, that thewriter would hear of the arrival of the steamer, and would haveeverything in readiness to take them out to his place upon theirlanding.

  Mr. Hardy had been in frequent communication with his friend fromthe time that he had determined to emigrate, and Mr. Thompson'sletters had contained the warmest assurance of a welcome, and aninvitation to make his house their home until they had one of theirown to go into; and now this kind letter, coming off so instantlyafter their arrival, cheered them all much, and made them feel lessstrange and to some extent at home in the new country at once.