11　The Father of Waters

The biggest bay in the United States I told you is called“the Mother of Waters.”The biggest river in the United States is called“the Father of Waters.”Although the river is called a“father，”he is not a Mr. He is a“Miss.”In the Indian language he is Miss—issippi, and is spelled in this jingly way：

M

i double s

i double s

i double p

i

which is very easy to learn.

If I asked you to draw a picture of a river, and also of a tree without any leaves on it, you would probably draw the tree this way—a main stem, with big branches, and big branches with little branches, and little branches with tiny branches—like the picture to the left. And you would probably draw the picture of the river as just a wiggly line—now wouldn't you?As a matter of fact, the picture of a tree and the picture of a river should be drawn exactly the same way, for they each have a main stem with big branches, big branches with little branches, and little branches with tiny branches—although you may