TORONTO OP OLD. 267 



Natural History, in coniunetion with an advocacy of the fause of Ttrnpernnoe A diligent 

 attention to his profession as a lawyer did not hinder the etlitor of the JAterary dem from giving 

 some of his leisnre time to the observation and study of Nature. We accordingly have in the 

 columns of that periodical numerous notes of the fauna and flora of the surrounding neighbour- 

 hood, which for their appreeiativeness, simplicity, and minuteness, remind us of the pleasant 

 pages of White's " Natural History of Selborne." The Gem appeared in issi-a, and had au 

 extensive circulation. It was illustrated with good wood cuts, and its uiottr> vrns "Humanity, 

 Temperance, Progress." The place of its publication, a small white offic;' .still to be seen 

 adjoining the cottage which we are now passing, was indicated by a sfp.iare label .suspended at 

 the right-hand side of the door. The father of Mr. Duraud was an Englishman of Huguenot 

 descent, who emigrated hither from Abergavenny at a very early i.)eriiKl. Having been pre- 

 viously engaged in the East India mercantile service he undertook tlie importation of East 

 India produce. After reaching Quebec and Montreal in safety, liib iirst consignments, 

 embarked in batteaux, were swallowed up bodily in the rajiids of the St. Lawrence. Ho never- 

 theless afterwards prospered in his enterprise, and acq^uired property. The site of the present 

 city of Hamilton was once almost wholly his. The county of Haltou returned him to 

 Parliament as its representative ; and in 1817 he enjoyed the distinction of being expelled from 

 the House. A Parliament had recently expired. He offered some critici.sms on its proceedings 

 in an Address to his late constituents. The new House, which contained many persons who 

 had lieen members of tiie former Parliament, was persuaded to vote the Address to the electors 

 of Ualton a libel, to exclude its author from the House, and to commit him to prison. His 

 instant re-election by the county of Halton was of course secured. Up to 1812 Mr. Durand, 

 senior, had edited a political journal, moderate and reasonable in tone, entitled the Hec, luinted, 

 we believe, at Niagara. From his evidence before tlie celebrated Grievance Comniittee of 

 1835, we observe that he was au early advocate of a number of changes, which have since been 

 carried with effect. Sir. Durand, senior, died at Hamilton, in 1S36. 



Proceeding onward a few yards, we arrived, in former times, at what was popularly called the 

 Sandhill — a moderate rise, showing where, in bygone ages, the lake began to shoal. An object 

 of interest in the woods here, at the top of the rise, on the west side, was the " Indian's Grave," 

 made noticeable to the traveller by a little civilized railing surrounding it. The story connected 

 therewith was this : When the United States forces were lauding in 1813, near the Humbsr Bay, 

 with the intention of attacking the Fort and taking York, one of Major Givins's Indians con- 

 cealed himself in a tree, and from tliat position flred into the boats with fatal effect repeatedly. 

 He was soon discovered, and speedily shot. T!ie body was afterwards found, and deposited 

 witii respect in a little grave here on the crest of the Sandhill, where an ancient Indian Ijurying- 

 ground liad existed, though long abandoned. It would seem that by some means, the scalp of 

 tliis poor Indian was packed up with the troiihies of the capture of York, conveyed by Lieut. 

 Dudley to Washington. From being found in company with the Speaker's Mace on that occa- 

 sion, the foolisli story arose of its having been discovered over the Speaker's chair in the Parlia- 

 ment building that was destroyed. " Witli tJie exception," says Ingersoll, in his History of the 

 War of lSl'2-14, "of the English general's nmsical snuff-box, which was an object of much 

 interest to some of our officers, and a sealp which Major For.syth found sus|)eudeil over the 

 Speaker's chaii-, we gained but barren honour by the capture of York, of which no jierinanent 

 possession was taken." Anchinleck, in his History of the same war, very reasonably observes, 

 that "from the exp"rtuess of the backwoodsmen in scalping (of which he gives two or three 

 ustances), it is not at all rinlikely that the scalp in question was that of an unfortunate Indian 

 who was shot while in a tree by the Americans, in their advance on the town." It was rejected 

 with disgust by the authorities at Washington, Ingersoll informs us, and was not allowed to 

 decorate the walls <ff the War Otiice there. Colonel W. F. Coffin, in his "1812 : The War and 

 its Moral," asserts that a peruke or scratch-wig, fouiul in the Parliament House, was mistaken 

 for ;l scalp. 



Building reT^uiremeut.-s have at the presimt day occasioned the almost complete obliteration 

 of the Sandhill. Innumerable loads of the loos,' silex of which it was composed have been 

 removed. The bones of the Indian brave, and of his forefathers, have been carted away. In a 

 triturated condition, tUfy mingle now, perii-ips, in the mortar of many a wall in the vicinity. 



