One of these brigs had been named the _Lawrence_. It was on June 1st of this year that Captain Lawrence sailed out of Boston in the ill-fated _Chesapeake_ to meet the well-found _Shannon_, and was lost. To commemorate the magnificent bravery of this officer, the Secretary of the Navy had named one of the brigs the _Lawrence_. Perry chose that one as his flagship. The other was called the _Niagara_. The crews of the fleet set to work on the flag-ship first. Big scows built on a model that would let them lie close alongside the _Lawrence_ from stem to stern were filled with water until their decks were awash. Then they were secured to the _Lawrence_ in such a way that they could not rise without lifting her. Meantime the guns and all heavy weights had been removed from the _Lawrence_, and the next task was to pump the water out of the scows so that they would lift the man-of-war. When this was done the _Lawrence_ was hauled forward on the bar until hard aground, when the scows were once more filled and lowered and secured to the ship, and a second lift taken, which fortunately carried her clean over. The repetition of this work carried the _Niagara_ over as well, and Perry at last had his fleet in deep water. It is easy to tell how the work was done, but it was a job that kept the crews busy day and night from Sunday the 1st until Thursday the 5th of August, 1813. As good luck would have it, this time passed without a glimpse of the enemy. The people of Port Dover, Canada, had felt the great honor which the presence along-shore of a real British captain who had fought under Nelson conferred upon them. Colonial people are stirred so to this day. To show their appreciation of the honor, the Doverites must needs give a banquet. And Captain Barclay was as fond of festivities as Burgoyne was. Like Burgoyne, he missed an opportunity by attending to festivities instead of to duty. While Perry’s men lifted and hauled and strained to get the _Lawrence_ across the bar at Erie, Barclay was standing, gorgeous with gold lace, before the much-honored people of Dover and saying: “I expect to find the Yankee brigs hard and fast on the bar when I return, in which predicament it will be but a small job to destroy them.” He arrived one day too late, however. The _Niagara_ was over the worst of the bar, and her crew were at the capstan heaving her afloat when the bold skipper from Trafalgar and Dover appeared. The _Ariel_, a schooner carrying four twelve-pounders and thirty-six men, and the _Scorpion_, a gun-boat that carried thirty-five men and two guns, a long thirty-two and a short one, were sent to meet the squadron and hold it in check until the other ships could be made ready. But they did not have a chance to hold anything except the wind, for Barclay, seeing the Yankees all outside the bar, squared away for Malden, where the new _Detroit_ was lying.