Perry sailed three hundred miles up the Orinoco and was undaunted by the fact that the dreaded yellow fever soon appeared among his men.  He was seized with the terrible disease and died on the 24th of August.  He was buried with the highest civic and military honors at Trinidad, many British officers who had fought against him on Lake Erie showing their respect for his bravery and an appreciation of his kindness to them when they were prisoners of war.  His remains were afterward removed to Newport, Rhode Island, where a magnificent monument was erected to his memory.

The untimely death of this naval hero before he had time to complete his work encouraged the West Indian pirates and they became more audacious than before.  In the autumn of 1821 several naval vessels were sent thither by our Government.  They did vigorous work, capturing and destroying a number of piratical vessels, but there were too many of them, and they were spread over too extended a space to be wiped out by a few captures.  In the following year a still more powerful squadron went to the West Indies under the command of Captain James Biddle, who did such valiant service in the War of 1812.  A good many buccaneers were destroyed, including several leaders of the buccaneers whose atrocious deeds had long made their names a terror.  In one of these attacks Lieutenant William H. Allen, of the schooner Alligator, was killed by a musket ball.  His gallantry in the fight between the Argus and Pelican in the war with Great Britain sent a thrill of admiration through the country and brought him well-merited promotion.

You have not forgotten the wonderful cruise of Captain David Porter in the Essex, when he entered the Pacific Ocean and caused such havoc among the British shipping.  He was appointed commander of the West India forces and arrived off Porto Rico in March, 1823.  He was provided, in addition to his warships, with a number of barges, furnished with twenty oars apiece, and which were indispensable in following the pirates up the shallow creeks and into the shoal waters where the vessels could not go.

[Illustration:  OUR FLEET IN THE BALTIC.]

Captain Porter was discreet but impatient with injustice.  When one of his schooners was fired into by the Porto Rican authorities he promptly demanded an explanation, which was given.  The most important incident of his service occurred in the autumn of 1824 and is known as the “Foxardo Affair.”

In October of that year the storehouse of the American consul at St. Thomas was broken into and robbed of much valuable property which there was reason to believe had been carried to the small port at the eastern end of Porto Rico known as Foxardo.  Lieutenant Platt, of the Beagle, anchored off the town and asked the help of the authorities in capturing the criminals and recovering the property.  The officer was treated with the grossest discourtesy.  Having landed in civilian clothes, the authorities accused him of being an impostor and ordered him to show his commission.  The Lieutenant produced it, whereupon they declared it a forgery and arrested him on the charge of being a pirate.  After he and a midshipman who accompanied him had been insulted repeatedly they were allowed to leave.