FIGHTS WITH THE PIRATES OF THE GULF AND THE CORSAIRS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN WE have so far been reading the story of legal warfare; now let us turn to that of the wild warfare of the pirate ships. Pirates swarmed during and after the War of 1812, and the United States had its hands full in dealing with them. They haunted the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, and they went back to their old bad work in the Mediterranean. They kept our naval leaders busy enough for a number of years. The first we shall speak of are the Lafittes, the famous sea-rovers of the Gulf of Mexico. Those men had their hiding places in the lowlands of Louisiana, where there are reedy streams and grassy islands by the hundreds, winding in and out in a regular network. From these lurking places the pirate ships would dash out to capture vessels and then hurry back to their haunts. The Lafittes (Jean and Pierre) had a whole fleet of pirate ships, and were so daring that they walked the streets of New Orleans as if that city belonged to them, and boldly sold their stolen goods in its marts, and nobody meddled with them. But the time came when they were attacked in their haunts and the whole gang was broken up. This was near the end of the war, when the government had some ships to spare. After that they helped General Jackson in the celebrated battle of New Orleans, and fought so well that they were forgiven and were thanked for their services. When the War of 1812 was over many of the privateers became pirates. A privateer, you know, is something like a pirate. He robs one nation, while a pirate robs all. So hundreds of those men became sea-robbers. After 1814 the seas of the West Indies were full of pirates. There was no end of hiding places among the thousand islands of these seas, where the pirates could bring their 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.