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.

One instance of this deserves especial notice, as the subject of it had,
entirely by the good qualities mentioned, amassed a fortune, and had
married a woman of English birth. I was introduced to this individual
some time after my arrival in Buffalo, and his singularly correct views
and uprightness of character made me partial to his company. His wife
was a notable, well-informed, good-looking woman, about forty years of
age. Irrespective of colour, I certainly admired her discrimination in
the choice of a partner, although she was looked down upon by the wives
of the white citizens, and, in common with her husband, was almost
entirely shunned by them. There may, perhaps, have been a higher
consideration than that of a good settlement to cause an English woman