It
was afterwards questioned, whether the supposed wanderer was only a
catamount, a species of jaguar that emits doleful cries at night.
The storm having abated, I soon after returned on board, and in due
course reached Buffalo, where I had the pleasure of meeting with an old
acquaintance, from whom I had long been separated, and who had delayed
his intended voyage up the lake, to await my return. A large proportion
of the population of Buffalo are people of colour, and one quarter of
the town is almost exclusively inhabited by them; many of these, I
regret to add, are living in a state of degradation pitiable to behold,
apparently without the least endeavour being made by their white
fellow-citizens to improve their condition. Some of these coloured
people keep eating-houses, for the accommodation of those of their own
complexion, but the greater number are employed as stokers and
steam-boat hands. A few of these men, despite the prejudice that exists
(and it is nowhere in the Union more marked than in Buffalo), rise above
the common level, and by that probity of character and untiring energy,
which I believe to be inherent in the race, become men of substance.
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