148 Rambles with a Fishing-Rod. 



graceful object. Nor are more methodical and 

 stronger-looking clocks wanting ; they are of every 

 kind ; they will suit the kitchen or the boudoir. 

 The excellence of the external work is equalled 

 by that of the machinery ; for having once gained 

 a reputation, the inhabitants of these hills take 

 care that it shall not be lost. The Gewerbeverein, 

 or Union, guarantee the goodness of each clock 

 which hangs on the walls. 



Thirty years ago a really good little clock could 

 have been bought for sixpence or eightpence, but 

 now, with communication more easy, the small 

 ones are sold for four or five shillings, the cheap- 

 est trumpeter for six pounds. Every workman 

 has his special piece of work, one carves the 

 figures, another prepares the dial, a third the 

 wheels, a fourth the pendulum, so that on one 

 clock many hands are employed. Under this 

 system, within a radius of sixty English miles, 

 the number of clocks or watches turned out 

 annually is nearly seven hundred thousand. Fig- 

 ures convey but small impressions to the mind ; 

 but if it is remembered that five thousand men 

 are working at this trade, and that there are only 

 about two thousand five hundred inhabitants in 

 Furtwangen and fifteen hundred in Tryberg, it 

 will be seen how strong a hold this trade has 

 upon the people of the Schwarzwald. s 



Glancing at the history of this industry, we 

 find that towards the end of the seventeenth cen- 

 tury a family named Kreuz, more enterprising or 

 clever than their neighbours, lived in the village 

 of Neukirch. They made a rude clock, works 

 and frame of wood, with a weight, and this was 



