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clothing the greater number of the mountains to their summit ; but 

 they may be said to be the very foundation of the prosperity of the 

 poor inhabitants of the Haitz, whose subsistence more or less immedi- 

 ately depends on the mines and smelling-houses, for which this dis- 

 trict is so famous. These works are supplied almost exclusively by 

 the neighbouring forests with the wood necessary for building and 

 fuel. Were the supply of wood lessened or cut off, or even rendered 

 more expensive, these establishments would speedily come to an end, 

 and the inhabitants of a densely populated district be inevitably 

 thrown out of employment. Few of the mines are sufficiently remu- 

 nerative to allow of the consumption, as fuel, of coal, which must be 

 brought from a considerable distance, and at some expense ; and, 

 indeed, some of the largest of them are worked solely for the generous 

 purpose of affording employment to a large population entirely depen- 

 dent on them. Wood is also the chief fuel of the peasantry. In such 

 circumstances, it evidently becomes an important matter to preserve 

 and uprear the old and new forests of such a district ; and, I believe, 

 in no part of the world are forests tended with such anxious care, 

 both by Government and private parties, as in the Hartz. From so 

 early a period as the sixteenth century, the forest-regulations (For- 

 stordnungen) of the Hartz have been of such acknowledged practical 

 value, that they have, with justice, served as models by which the 

 management of all the forests throughout Germany have subsequently 

 been regulated. Over the administration of forest affairs, there pre- 

 sides a Court of Directors, under whom acts a very extensive and com- 

 plete staff of officers, from the ' Commissioner of Woods and Forests ' 

 down to the humble forester or woodman. The Court of Adminis- 

 tration immediately superintends the duties of the forest commissioners 

 (Ober-forster). Subject to the latter are the district foresters, or su- 

 perintendents (Revier-forster), who are immediately charged with the 

 protection of the woods, and who are assisted by a numerous staff of 

 forest overseers, huntsmen, wood-watchers, &c. Last, but certainly 

 not least, of all the official staff, are the woodmen, probably about 1500 

 in number, a very peculiar race in the Hartz, living, to a great degree, 

 quite isolated from the world, shut up in their dense pine-forests, 

 having laws and customs of their own. Once a year the whole staff 

 attends a general meeting of the court, which investigates the indus- 

 trial results of the whole year, regulates the supply of wood and char- 

 coal for the ensuing year, and examines into all important business 

 matters connected with the forests or their produce. This court acts 

 also in conjunction with the Court of Direction of Mines ; there being 

 VOL. IV. 6 L 



