The imposter next appeared in New Bedford, where, on the initiative of William Rotch, he was arrested. Unfortunately, however, he escaped from prison. From New Bedford he made his way to New York where he presented false letters of credit to the extent of $10,000. Here he was brought before the authorities and was requested to leave the State. He went to Albany and was employed by Ira Porter for one month. To disguise himself better he had made a plain suit, Quaker style, and then absconded on one of Porter's fine black horses, worth $200. He rode him to York, introduced himself as Paul Cuffe and found hospitality at the home of Joseph Jessop. Although he attended meeting on the first day, nevertheless suspicions were aroused as to his real self. His conduct and pretentions while at York are further set forth by a contemporary in the following language: "An African pretending to be the son of the _Celebrated_ Paul Cuffe, came here about eight or ten days ago. He was received as Paul Cuffe, in this place, and entertained by members of the Society of Friends. He said he was on his way to Congress, for the purpose of soliciting aid in a project he had on foot, to colonize Sierra Leone, or the _Leone Country_, on the west coast of Africa. He said he had been the first man that put a yoke on a pair of oxen in Sierra Leone. "He tarried in this place several days, and though he is an artful fellow, he told in the course of his conversation upon the Sierra Leone project some inconsistent stories. He said, for instance, that he would lay a memorial before Congress embracing a view of his Sierra Leone business. One of the Friends advised him to have a sufficient number of copies printed to supply all the members. This, he said, was already done and he had them along with him. On his being pressed to show one of them he could not make it appear that he told a straight story. This gave rise to a suspicion that he was not a _Real_ Cuffe, of the Cape Cod breed. He proceeded from this place to Baltimore. Letters were sent from here giving intelligence of the suspiciousness of his character. "The letters were read to him at Baltimore, upon which he came back to this place to clear up his character. He appears not to have done it to the satisfaction of his friends here, as they took him before a magistrate and had him committed to the care of Robert Wilson. On his examination it appeared that he could neither read nor write, but at the same time exhibited proof of a keenness of intellect seldom met with in persons of his color. The real celebrated Paul Cuffe resides in the State of Massachusetts in the vicinity of Cape Cod at the entrance to Boston Bay."[51] What was the upshot of the matter is not known but the significance of the affair is well pointed out by the Real Cuffe in a letter to the impostor: