The Dismal Swamp and Lake Drummond, Early recollections | Page 8

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 him by the company, which mule I had the
honor of riding at a tournament at Suffolk, Va., in 1860. How old he
was no one could tell at that time. No account is given of any mules
being in the Ark at the time that she settled on dry land, and where that
mule came from will never be known. It is very certain that he
appeared on this mundane sphere at some period after the flood. If he is
dead I have heard nothing of it. He may be wandering about the Dismal
Swamp. Old Uncle Alek and his mule were great curiosities, and
whenever he came to town on his mule they attracted a great deal of
attention. He was an exhorter in the Methodist Churches for colored
people, and always had in his pocket a Testament or hymn book. He
was perfectly conversant with the Bible, and could refer readily to any
passage of Scripture that you might mention. He was born in 1783, and
died a few years ago, having attained the age of one hundred years, his
mind being as vivid and active as at any time. We shall never forget
Uncle Alek and his mule. They were things of our earliest recollection,
and, like many of the landmarks at the "Lake of the Dismal Swamp,"

have been washed away. I have been to it frequently since my first visit,
and would notice the changes made by the rude hand of time.
I have examined several writers that have written about "Uncle Alek's
Mule," and am satisfied that it was the same one that "Nat Turner" rode
when on his raid of murder in Southampton county, Va., in 1831.
Looking over the diary of Colonel Godfrey for thirty years, we notice
that he said "Nat Turner," when he appeared in the avenue of Dr.
Blount, on that fatal night, he rode at the head of the column, mounted
on a sorrel mule, with flax mane and tail. But the question arises, how
that mule got into the Dismal Swamp, and how he came in possession
of the Dismal Swamp Land Company. Col. Godfrey states that there
were several guns in the house of Dr. Blount, and several visitors there
at the time; that the young Blount loaded the guns, and that a strong fire
was kept up on the advancing column. Nat Turner was thrown from his
mule, then they became panic-stricken, and were dispersed. For the
bravery displayed by young Blount on that occasion, he received a
midshipman's warrant in the United States Navy. I will now quote from
G. P. R. James' book, called the "Old Dominion," in which he states
that a "young mother with her infant fled to the Dismal Swamp for
safety." It was several miles away, and it may be that she drove that
same mule, and the probability is that she left the mule in the Swamp,
and that he wandered about until he found Jack's Camp, where he was
secured and