NATURAL HISTORY, TORONTO REGION 



tant information which the Indians gave him, he con- 

 tinues : "I think Toronto a most convenient place 

 for a factory, and that from thence we may very 

 easily settle the north side of Lake Erie." 



It is interesting to note an observation of Sir 

 Wm. Johnson made in 1767: " I have heard traders 

 of long experience and good circumstances affirm that 

 for the exclusive trade of that place (Toronto), for 

 one season, they would willingly pay 1,000 so cer- 

 tain were they of a quiet market from the cheap- 

 ness at which they could afford their goods there." 

 In its early acceptation the name Toronto was 

 applied to all the district lying north as far as Lake 

 Simcoe, and it was also used for that lake on eigh- 

 teenth century maps. 



During the revolutionary war it was happy in 

 having no history, but at the conclusion of the con- 

 flict the influx of U. E. Loyalists began. Major- 

 General Simcoe, who had fought under Lord Corn- 

 wallis, was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of the 

 new province of Upper Canada, created under the 

 constitutional act of 1791. 



Under his administration Toronto was first laid 

 out on its present site by Surveyor-General Bouchette. 

 At this date also, Yonge Street was planned as a 

 road to the Georgian Bay and named after Sir George 

 Yonge, then Secretary of War. The town itself was 

 christened York in honour of the soldier-son of 

 George III. 



14 



