before, or not—­in the mean time taking the ship into anchoring ground.  On bringing her to anchor, the crew saw a brig close alongside, burnt to the water’s edge, and three dead bodies floating near her.  The pirates said they had burnt the brig the day before, and murdered all the crew!—­and intended doing the same with them.  They said “look at the turtles (meaning the dead bodies) you will soon be the same.”  They said the vessel was a Baltimore brig, which they had robbed and burnt, and murdered the crew as before stated, of which they had little doubt.  Captain Ricker was most shockingly bruised by them.  The mate was hung till he was supposed to be dead, but came to, and is now alive.  They told the captain that they belonged in Regla, and should kill them all to prevent discovery.

In 1822, the United States had several cruisers among the West-India islands, to keep the pirates in check.  Much good was done but still many vessels were robbed and destroyed, together with their crews.  This year the brave Lieutenant Allen fell by the hand of pirates; he was in the United States schooner Alligator, and receiving intelligence at Matanzas, that several vessels which had sailed from that port, had been taken by the pirates, and were then in the bay of Lejuapo.  He hastened to their assistance.  He arrived just in time to save five sail of vessels which he found in possession of a gang of pirates, 300 strong, established in the bay of Lejuapo, about 15 leagues east of this.  He fell, pierced by two musket balls, in the van of a division of boats, attacking their principal vessel, a fine schooner of about eighty tons, with a long eighteen pounder on a pivot, and four smaller guns, with the bloody flag nailed to the mast.  Himself, Captain Freeman of Marines, and twelve men, were in the boat, much in advance of his other boats, and even took possession of the schooner, after a desperate resistance, which nothing but a bravery almost too daring could have overcome.  The pirates, all but one, escaped by taking to their boats and jumping overboard, before the Alligator’s boat reached them.  Two other schooners escaped by the use of their oars, the wind being light.

Captain Allen survived about four hours, during which his conversation evinced a composure and firmness of mind, and correctness of feeling, as honorable to his character, and more consoling to his friends, than even the dauntless bravery he before exhibited.

The surgeon of the Alligator in a letter to a friend, says, “He continued giving orders and conversing with Mr. Dale and the rest of us, until a few minutes before his death, with a degree of cheerfulness that was little to be expected from a man in his condition.  He said he wished his relatives and his country to know that he had fought well, and added that he died in peace and good will towards all the world, and hoped for his reward in the next.”

Lieutenant Allen had but few equals in the service.  He was ardently devoted to the interest of his country, was brave, intelligent, and accomplished in his profession.  He displayed, living and dying, a magnanimity that sheds lustre on his relatives, his friends, and his country.