In the spring of 1813, Captain David Porter (father of Admiral David Dixon Porter), in command of the _Essex_, doubled Cape Horn and entered the Pacific, where until then no American frigate had ever been seen. He protected American vessels and nearly broke up the British whaling trade in that ocean. He made so many captures that he soon had almost a fleet under his command, and was able to pay his men with the money taken from the enemy. Every nation in that region was a friend of England, and he seized the Marquesas Islands, where he refitted his fleet and resumed his cruise. Early in 1814, he entered the neutral harbor of Valparaiso, where he was blockaded by two British vessels that had long been searching for him. Regardless of international law, they attacked the _Essex_, which was in a crippled condition and unable to close with them, and finally compelled her surrender. OPERATIONS ON THE LAKES. Thus far our record of the exploits of the American navy has been confined to the ocean, but the most important doings of all occurred on the lakes. At the beginning, our force upon these inland waters was weak. On Lake Ontario, there was but one small vessel, while the British had several. Both sides began building war-vessels. The American fleet was commanded by Commodore Chauncey and the British by Sir James Yeo. They alternated in gaining command of the lake. Meanwhile, the ship-builders were so busy that from about a dozen vessels on either side they increased the number to more than a hundred each by the close of the war. PERRY'S GREAT VICTORY. One of the grandest of all triumphs was gained by the American navy in the early autumn of 1813. Captain Oliver Hazard Perry was sent to Lake Erie to build a navy. Perry at that time was not thirty years old and had never seen a naval battle. By August, he had a squadron of two large and seven small vessels, carrying 54 guns and 416 men, with which he set out to find Commodore Barclay, who had two large and four small vessels, with 63 guns and 440 men. The two squadrons met at the western end of Lake Erie on the 10th of September. Barclay centred such a furious fire upon the _Lawrence_, Perry's flagship, that in two hours she was in a sinking condition. Perry entered a small boat, and, exposed to a sharp fire, was rowed to the _Niagara_, on which he hoisted his flag. The battle was renewed, and, while the enemy was trying to form a new line of battle, Perry ran the _Niagara_ directly through the fleet, delivering broadsides right and left. The other vessels were prompt in following her, and poured such a raking fire into the enemy that fifteen minutes later Barclay surrendered. The British commander had but one arm when the battle opened, and, before it ended, his remaining arm was shot off. He lost 200 killed and wounded and 600 prisoners, while the Americans had 27 killed and 96 wounded.