From subsequent
experience in such matters, I have no doubt that this version was a true
one.
The hotels and cafes in the Slave States are all frequented by slave
owners and dealers; these would not think of putting up at quarters
where "coloured folks" were entertained. This distinction is so marked,
that no negro would attempt to apply for refreshment at the bar of such
places, as the inevitable consequence of such a liberty would be
refusal, if not summary ejectment. It is therefore the custom, in all
southern towns and cities, for the negro population to resort to places
kept expressly for the accommodation of coloured people. These are not
always kept by men of their own complexion, but often by white men, who,
having become friendly with them, have lost caste with the whites, and
are in fact discarded by them.
In the harbour of Buffalo, I saw two brigs, that during the war in 1812
had been captured by the Americans, and sunk somewhere up the lake on
the American side. These had recently been raised by means of apparatus
invented by an ingenious American.
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