were fortunate in having to wait on such a
distinguished person."

Tom Moore, after he had arrived in this country, no doubt heard of the
Lake of the Dismal Swamp, and when he reached Norfolk, Va., and the
story of the fair maiden and her lover being fresh, might have induced
him to visit it, and it was on that occasion that he penned the
following lines:

"They made her a grave that was too cold and damp,
For a soul so warm and true."

His poem on the "Lake of the Dismal Swamp," no doubt, is familiar with
every person of ordinary information, and can be found in every
library, and should be read by every person who has never done so.

CHAPTER VI.

PORTE CRAYON'S VISIT, INCIDENTS, ETC.

At a much later date the Lake was visited by Porte Crayon, who was at
that time writing for Harper's Monthly. The account given of his
trip, with his illustrations, are very life-like and interesting, and
in the February or March number of that valuable book, for the year
1857, you will be greatly amused at the description there given. Two
darkies, Eli Chalk and Jim Pearce, were the drivers of the pleasure
boat furnished by W. S. Riddick, Esq., the then agent of the Dismal
Swamp Land Company, in which he was carried to the Lake. He was there
some two or three days, and his writings should be read to be
appreciated. It was at the Lake that we saw Uncle "Alek," of whom a
fac-simile likeness is given in the book above referred to. Uncle
"Alek" was a superanuated old colored man, belonging to the Reverend
Jacob Keeling, Rector of the Episcopal Churches in Nansemond county,
Virginia. He was quite old, and retained his memory to a remarkable
degree. He was called the "Bee Hunter" of the Dismal Swamp, and, if I
am not mistaken, had a bag of bees in his hand when Porte first met
him. He would follow bees for a long distance, cutting his way through
the reeds for miles in a straight line, until he came to the tree in
which was the hollow. Then he would take out the bees, put them into a
bag and bring them out. In going to the Lake you could see numberless
paths cut by Uncle Alek for that purpose. The opening through the
reeds would look to be about two feet wide and ten feet high, which
was almost the length of the reeds. Uncle Alek worked in the swamp
nearly all his life, was a faithful hand, and in his old age the
company gave him a house and a piece of land, as a home during his
natural life. A mule was also given to h