ONE LITTLE BAG OF RICE


The first white people that came to this country hardly knew how to
get their living here. They did not know what would grow best in
this country.

Many of the white people learned to hunt. All the land was covered
with trees. In the woods were many animals whose flesh was good to
eat. There were deer, and bears, and great shaggy buf-fa-loes. There
were rabbits and squirrels. And there were many kinds of birds. The
hunters shot wild ducks, wild turkeys, wild geese, and pigeons. The
people also caught many fishes out of the rivers.

Then there were animals with fur on their backs. The people killed
these and sold their skins. In this way many made their living.

Other people spent their time in cutting down the trees. They sawed
the trees into timbers and boards. Some of it they split into staves
to make barrels. They sent the staves and other sorts of timber to
other countries to be sold. In South Car-o-li-na men made tar and
pitch out of the pine trees.

But there was a wise man in South Car-o-li-na. He was one of those men
that find out better ways of doing. His name was Thomas Smith.

Thomas Smith had once lived in a large island thousands of miles away