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 were
planted in small patches as an experiment. Fortunately, the well
supplied an abundance of water, whose only drawback was that, like
most water upon the pampas, it had a strong saline taste, which
was, until they had become accustomed to it, very disagreeable to
the Hardys. As the well had been dug close to the house on the
highest part of the slope, the water was conducted from the pump by
small channels all over the garden; and the growth of the various
vegetables was surprising. But long before these could come into
bearing a welcome supply was afforded by the yams and Indian corn.
The yams resemble a sweet potato; and if the Indian corn is
gathered green, and the little corns nibbled off, boiled, and mixed
with a little butter, they exactly resemble the most delicate and
delicious young peas.
The young potatoes, too, had come in, so that they had now an
abundance of vegetables, the only point in which they had before
been deficient. Their drink was the _mate_, which may be
termed the national beverage of Paraguay, Brazil, and the Argentine
Republic.
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