eir prizes and enjoy their wild revels. The
warm airs, the ripe fruits and wild game of those shores made life easy
and pleasant, and prizes were plentiful on the seas.

When the war ended the United States gained a fine trade with the West
Indies. But many of the ships that sailed there did not come home again,
though there were no hurricanes to sink them. And some that did come
home had been chased by ships that spread the rovers' black flag. So it
was plain enough that pirates were at work.

For years they had it their own way, with no one to trouble them. The
government for years let them alone. But in time they grew so daring
that in 1819 a squadron of warships was sent after them, under Commodore
Perry, the hero of Lake Erie. Poor Perry caught the yellow fever and
died, and his ships came home without doing anything.

After that the pirates were let alone for two years. Now-a-days they
would not have been let alone for two weeks, but things went more slowly
then. No doubt the merchants who sent cargoes to sea complained of the
dreadful doings of the pirates, but the government did not trouble
itself much, and the sea-robbers had their own way until 1821.

By that time it was felt that something must be done, and a small fleet
of pirate hunters was sent to the West Indies. It included the famous
sloop-of-war _Hornet_, the one which had fought the _Peacock_, and the
brig _Enterprise_, which Decatur had been captain of in the Moorish war.

The pirates were brave enough when they had only merchant ships to deal
with, but they acted like cowards when they found warships on their
track. They fled in all directions, and many of their ships and barges
were taken. After that they kept quiet for a time, but soon they were at
their old work again.

In 1823 Captain David Porter, he who had fought so well in the _Essex_,
was sent against them. The brave young Farragut was with him. He brought
a number of barges and small vessels, so that he could follow the
sea-robbers into their hiding places.

One of these places was found at Cape Cruz, on Porto Rico. Here the
pirate captain and his men fought like tigers, and the captain's wife
stood by his side and fought as fiercely as he did. After the fight was
over the sailors found a number of caves used by the pirates. In some of
them were great bales of goods, and in others heaps of human bones. All
this told a dreadful story of robbery and murder.

Another fight took place