stop to the slaughter. This exploit, hitherto unparalleled, resounded
through India, and the name of Lafitte became the terror of English
commerce in these latitudes.

[Illustration: _Lafitte boarding the Queen East Indiaman._]

As British vessels now traversed the Indian Ocean under strong convoys,
game became scarce, and Lafitte determined to visit France; and after
doubling the Cape of Good Hope, he coasted up to the Gulf of Guinea, and
in the Bight of Benin, took two valuable prizes loaded with gold dust,
ivory, and Palm Oil; with this booty he reached St. Maloes in safety.
After a short stay at his native place he fitted out a brigantine,
mounting twenty guns and one hundred and fifty men, and sailed for
Gaudaloupe; amongst the West India Islands, he made several valuable
prizes; but during his absence on a cruise the island having been taken
by the British, he proceeded to Carthagena, and from thence to
Barrataria. After this period, the conduct of Lafitte at Barrataria does
not appear to be characterized by the audacity and boldness of his
former career; but he had amassed immense sums of booty, and as he was
obliged to have dealings with the merchants of the United States, and
the West Indies, who frequently owed him large sums, and the cautious
dealings necessary to found and conduct a colony of Pirates and
Smugglers in the very teeth of a civilized nation, obliged Lafitte to
cloak as much as possible his real character.

[Illustration: _Lafitte and his crew clearing the decks of the
Indiaman._]

As we have said before, at the period of the taking of Gaudaloupe by the
British, most of the privateers commissioned by the government of that