"a lande, even as God made it"

"a lande, even as God made it". Settling. Over the span of many generations, Native Americans relied upon the plants and animals of the Chesapeake Bay region to provide food, medicines, clothing, and building materials. Their hunting and fishing skills were matched by a thorough knowledge of local soils, fruits, vegetables, and other plants., In the early 17th century, when English settlers came to Maryland and its neighboring colony of Virginia, the supplies of fish, fowl, and furs were abundant. Oysters grew too large to eat in one mouthful, and striped bass reached six feet in length. Accustomed to scarcity in their mother country, the English were awestruck by this abundance., Yaocomaco Indians lived in what is now Southern Maryland. The Yaocomaco people knew how to choose good agricultural land. This site has the best soil on the east bank of the St. Mary's River. After purchasing the right to occupy an existing Yaocomaco village, Lord Baltimore's colonists could boast of first-year crops that "prospered exceedingly well.", The tulip poplar was preferred for canoe making due to its straight trunk and light weight. The interior was burned and then scraped out., Wild turkey offered meat as well as feathers used on arrows. Other wild game birds included passenger pigeons, quail, ducks, and geese., A variety of methods were used to catch fish depending on the season and species. Shell fish, especially oysters, were harvested in great quantities., White tailed deer was the most important game animal for Yaocomaco Indian hunters. Besides meat, it supplied hides for clothing and bone for tools., In 1666, George Alsop published a map of Maryland as part of his account of life as an indentured servant, A Character of the Province of Mary-land. Alsop served as an indentured servant between the years 1659 and 1663., [Aside:] , "And to say trueth, there wanteth nothing for the perfecting of this hopefull plantation; but greater numbers of our country-men to enjoy it." , A Relation of the Successful Beginning of the Lord Baltimore's Plantation in Maryland, 1634, Engraving by Theodore de Bry (1590) after the water colors of John White