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 
Wn. 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. 
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