TORONTO OF OLD. 263 



to Long Point on Lake Erie, on foot and in boats : returned down tlie Ouse [Grand Kiver] : 

 from tlien(.'e crossed a portage of ttve miles to "Welland River, and so to Port Cbippewa, Sep- 

 tember, 1795.) 



The old chroniclers of England speak in high jiraise of a primeval but somewhat mythic king 

 of Britain, named Belin : 



" Beliu v/ell held his honour, 

 And wisely was good governour," 

 fiays Peter de Langtoft, andihis translator, Robert de Brunue ; and they assign, among the rea- 

 sons why he merited such mention at their hands, the following : 



" His land Britaiue he yode throughout, 



And ilk cimnty belield about ; 



Beheld the woods, water and fen. 



No passage was maked for men, 



No highe street thorough countrie, 



Ne to borough ne citie. 



Thorough mooris, hills and valleys 



He made brigs and i;ausew;iys, 



Highe street for common passage. 



Brigs over water did he stage." 

 TJiis iiotice of the <Ad chronii'lers' X)ioneer king of Britain has again and again recurred to us 

 as we have had occasion to narrate the energetic doings of the first ruler of Upper Canada, here 

 and previously^ What Britaui was when Belin and his Celts were at work, Canada was in the 

 days of our immediate fathers — a trackless wild. That we see our country such as it is to-day, 

 approaching in many respects the beauty and agricultural finish of Britain itself, is due to the 

 intrepid men who faced without blenching the trials and jierils inevitable in a first attack on 

 the savage fastnesses of nature. 



A S'uccinct but good account is gi\'en of the origin of Yonge Street in Mr. Surveyor Genera; 

 D. W. Smith's Gazetteer of 1799. The advantages expected to accrue from the new highway 

 are clearly set forth; and though the anticipations expressed have not been fulfilled precisely 

 in the manner supposed, we see how comprehensive and really well-hiid were the plans of the 

 first organizer of Upper Canada. 



"Tonge Street," the early Gazetteer says, "is the direct communication from York to Lake 

 Simcoe, opened during the administration of his Excellency ?.Iajor-General Lieutenant Governor 

 Simeoe, who, having visited Lake Huron by Lake a ix Claies (formerly also Ouentaj'onk, or 

 Sinion, and now named Lake Simcoe), and discovered the harbour of Per.etanguisheue (now 

 Gloucester) to be fit for shipping, resolved on im)iro\ing the communication from Lake 

 Ontario to Lake Huron, by this short route, thereby avoiding the circuitous passage of Lake 

 Erie. This street has been opened in a direct line, and the road matle by the troops of his 

 Excellency's corps. It is thirty miles from York to Holland's river, at the Pine Fort called 

 GwUlimbury, where the road ends ; from thence yon descend into Lake Simcoe, and, having 

 passed it, there are two passages into Lake Huron ; the one by the river Severn, which conveys 

 the waters of Lake Simcoe into Gloucester Bay ; the other by a small portage, the continuation 

 of Yonge Street, to a small lake, which also runs into Gloucester liny. This communication 

 affords many advantages ; ruerehaudize from Montreal to Miehilimackinac may be sent this way 

 at ten or fifteen pounds lesS expense per ton, than liy the I'oute of tlie Grand or <3ttawa River ; 

 and the merchamlize from New York, to be sent up the North and Mohawk Rivers for the 

 north-west trade, finding its way into Lake Ontario at Oswego (Port Ontario), the advantage 

 will certainly be f'lt of transporting gonds fnini Oswego to Y<3rk, and from thence across Yonge 

 Street, and down the waters of hike Simcoe int'i lakcjHuron, in preference to sending it by 

 lake Erie." 



We now again endeavour to effect a start on our pilgrimage of retros|iection up the long- 

 route, from the establishment of which so many public adv.anta.ges were preilicted in 1799. 



The objects that came to be familiar to the eye at the entrance to Yonge Street from Lot 

 Street were, after the lapse of sonife years, on the west side, a large square white edifice known 

 as the Sun Tavern, Elliott's ; and on the east side, the buildings constituting Good's Foundry. 



