7　Mary’s Land, Virginia’s State, and Penn’s Woods

Did you ever trade a top for some marbles or an apple for an orange?Long before there was any Washington or any United States there used to be trader Indians living on the shores of the river that flows by Washington. These Indians paddled their canoes up and down the river and traded with other Indians, swapping things they had for things they wanted—beads for furs, bows for arrows, corn for potatoes.In the Indian language the name for Traders was Potomac, so we call the river after these trader Indians, the Potomac River.The Potomac separates two States with girls'names：Maryland and Virginia.They are named after two queens.The Potomac Indians paddled their canoes down the river till they came to a much broader piece of water.This piece of water was so big it seemed to them like the ocean, and they called it“the Mother of Waters，”which in their own language was“Chesapeake.”You can see it on the map.Chesapeake Bay is not the ocean, but it is the biggest bay in the United States.

Did you ever eat snails or terrapin or frogs'legs?Some people like them. The Indians found oysters growing in the Chesapeake Bay.At first no one thought of eating oysters—they didn't look good to eat.But one day an Indian who was very hungry broke an oyster-shell open and ate the oyster inside.It tasted good and it didn't hurt him, so others began to eat oysters, and now almost every one likes oysters, either raw or cooked.Oysters grow