Some Points and Thoughts on the Book Out on The Pampas

I thought that a couple of points from Henty's Out on the Pampas, which my friend Noah Botkin and I discussed on the radio yesterday, were worthy of being discussed on the blog. Among many of the points that we had the opportunity to cover was one which stuck out particularly strongly to me: it is that this was G.A. Henty's first book, and I believe that it, probably, contains some of the most overt Christianity of any of his books.

The story of Out on The Pampas tells about the adventures of the Hardy family as they move from "merry old England" to Buenos Ayres and then Rosario, Argentina. The family, all alone, go to start a little community while facing many obstacles and perils (both from Indians and animals) in this rugged new life style. The Hardy children get to hear an amazing story of adventure and pluck, told first-hand by Seth Harper, "The Yankee," about the Mexican American War (1846 to 1848). Seth's adventures have plenty of Indian fighting and battles for those of you who enjoy the battle side of Henty. The story also contains an amazing amount of facts about the Pampas and South American plains. During the course of the Hardy's adventures, they defend their plantation from Indians, learn about living off of the land, and go on a rescue mission to save their sister Ethel.

Here are a few of our points from the radio show today.

• This was Henty's first "Boys book." what is unique about this story that is different from others is that:

  • Henty once related in an interview how his storytelling skills had grown out of tales he would tell after dinner to his children, (he had this particular story in mind.) A friend had heard him telling this story to his family and told Henty that he had a gift and really ought to publish the story. (The book was published 1868).
  • He named the four Hardy children after his own children (Charles, Hubert, Maud and Ethel).

• Henty really puts great detail into talking about the relationships within the Hardy family in this story. One thing I have always noticed in the different books I have read has been this: what the author writes reflects his beliefs on life and culture, and how he thinks that should look. In this book, Henty really drives the point that the children have great respect for their father, while also showing the love they have for him. He also shows that the father is the head of the home. Mr. Hardy consults his wife on what she thinks about their moving to South America and says he wishes for her help in making the decision to move but there is no question that the final decision rests on him as the head of the home.

• Mr. Hardy also teaches his boys and then later his girls how to shoot because "it is important to know how to defend a home and hunt for food when you are on the prairie." This is not a man who is afraid of guns or has a effeminate attitude toward the defense of the body and family God has given him. In my opinion, Mr. Hardy truly understands that when the sixth commandment says "thou shalt not murder" it also means "you had better protect your family when danger comes around or you are allowing the murder of your family by not defending them."

• Many people have asked me whether girls ought to read the Henty books. While I think girls would enjoy and benefit from all of Henty's works, this book will be particularly interesting to them because of its excellent examples of Christian femininity.

  • The two sisters in Out on The Pampas, Maud and Ethel, are both what any brother would want in a sister. In the beginning we are introduced to them at the age of twelve and eleven, we see that they are girls who want to be of the most help to their family as possible when they find out that they are moving to a foreign country. I noticed that they didn't cry or tell their parents they would miss their friends, but instead they immediately said that they were happy to be of help.

  • The two girls also were not afraid of being willing to help hunt and protect the family from Indians. In one instance Maud and Ethel both have to shoot an Indian to save their brother Hubert who has a group of Indians hot on his trail. Hubert, while out shooting ducks, had been surprised and then chased by a band of thirty or forty Indians mounted on horses all the way to "Mount Pleasant" (the Hardy's home). When I read this story I thought that it was really great to read about two sisters who are willing to be real ladies but at the same time be willing to pick up a gun and shoot an Indian in defense of their brother.

• An interesting fact about this book is that, unlike most of Henty's boys stories, it was not written as a Historical novel but rather as a boys novel that was historically correct. It has been said that the story of Out on The Pampas may have been based on an actual family that Henty knew who went to Argentina and then later returned to England and told Henty of their adventures. Of course Henty would have embellished a little to make the story more exiting, but the sort of adventures which the Hardys experience are not out of the ordinary for the time and location Henty sets them in.

• One thing that Henty points out in a number of his books is how important respect for our enemies and taking care of the fallen and wounded, rather than scorning them, really is. We see this clearly applied when three Indians who had been part of a bigger group attacking "Mount Pleasant" are found wounded. In a time when the prevalent attitude was "the only good Indian is a dead Indian," the Hardy's take the wounded Indians into their home, treat them with the utmost respect and then free the Indians, returning their weapons and gear. Later on the friendship shown by the Hardy family is returned when the three Indians help them to get back the youngest daughter (Ethel) who had been captured by Indians towards the latter half of the book.

Over all, I believe that any young man or woman would enjoy reading Out on The Pampas. It contains some of Hentys richest elements while telling the reader all about the type of world the Hardys were living in at the time. To summarize in Noah Botkins words, "reading Henty is always an educational experience. I believe young men [and ladies] need to read more books like this rather then waste their time on frivolities."