76 



As a matter of fact, their hands are often their only tools. With these they load the 

 baskets and excavate the soil. No shelter is provided for them at night nor any 

 covering. A certain number of overseers are appointed. These are armed with 

 sticks and superintend the work. 



One complaint made universally was that instead of allowing the men of each dis- 

 trict to work in their own districts the ])ractice was to send them to distant parts of 

 the province, thus needlessly increasing tlie dithculty and cost of feeding them and 

 ministering to their wants. 



Common sense would seem to suggest employment on the canals and embank- 

 ments in their own neighborhood by preference, because they would then have a 

 direct personal interest in the work. 



They complained that there was much bribery and corruption connecteil with the 

 appointment of the forced labor, wealthy communities thus purchasing partial 

 exemptions at the expense of those who were too poor to l)ribe high enough. They 

 said that this was the real reason why the system of letting each district find the 

 labor for its own puljlic works was not adoj)ted, because that would be an obstacle to 

 these corrupt exemptions. 



All admitted forced labor to l)e a necessary institution in Egypt, the maintenance 

 of canals and embankments ])eing of vital importance, but there had been great 

 abuses, and even now they assured me that men were still forcc(l to labor on the 

 estates of the government and of the wealthy pashas, but they said that now those 

 so employed on the privileged lands received pay; previously they received none. 

 This abuse, like many others, has been nominally abolished, but nevertheless con- 

 tinues, the sheiks conniving. Indeed, it is through their instrumentality alone that 

 these abuses are possible. 



FORCED I.AKOK IN TPPEH ECJVPT. 



A cut about L'~l feet deep has been made tlirougli a conglomerate of sand and 

 gravel; this trench was flanked right and left by high embankments, consisting of 

 the debris excavated. 



From the summit of these ridges to the floor of the canal was from 85 to 40 feet 

 dee]i; along the bottom and on the slopes right ami left men swarmeil thickly like 

 bees on a honeycoml) for a distance of about a nnle in length. 



The overseer told me that the entire forced labor of the province was concentrated 

 there, 40,000 men in all; that they worked from sunrise to sunset without intermis- 

 sion except a brief interval at midday for a meal consisting of bread soaked in unfil- 

 tered Nile water. This liread was sent to them 1iy their relatives, and they had a 

 meal of it before conunencing work and another at night. They have also to pro- 

 vide their own baskets for carrying the excavated soil. They were engaged in fill- 

 ing these baskets with gravel (using their fingers for the purpose), climl)ing the 

 sides of the cut, and tipping them on the outer slope. The majority had no imple- 

 ments V)ut their hands. A limited mnnber had short picks a foot" long, which they 

 also have to provide, the government contributing nothing whatever. 



The <lay was excessively hot, and not a lireath of wind. The temperature in my 

 cabin with all winciows open was 82 degrees in the shade. At the bottom of that 

 trench it was much hotter. I should estimate it at 95 degrees. There was absolutely 

 no shade. In this tierj^ heat and glare and amid dust they toiled all daylong. 

 They were clad in calico, mostly reduced to rags by the work they were engaged in. 

 They wore on their heads felt skull caps exactly like those represented as worn by 

 workmen in fourth dynasty has reliefs. They were barefooted. Their calico rags 

 formed their only covering at night, and they slept on the bare ground in the open air 

 without any kind of shelter, although the nights are often very cold. Among them 

 were many overseers armed with sticks, with which they often struck the men while 

 carrying loads on their heads, without any apparent reason. Many had sore fingers 

 and sore feet, for there were sharp flints among the debris. 



