1874.] ^4:0 [DelmaT. 



Wages. 



In common with many European and all Oriental countries, women ii 

 Egypt are employed in field laboi*. The following were the prices of libor 

 current at four different epochs. Men's wages per diem ai-e always meant 

 unless otherwise specified. 



Year 1837. 



Field laborers I L°^^^' ^^^P* ^^'^^^ @ •^'' 



j^ieiciUDorers..... ••••• | Upper " .03^ @ .02f 



Boys and girls, sugar plantation 01 J- @ .03 



Tear 1841. 



Laborers, at Cairo, average .05 



Keepers, or gaug-leaders, .10 



Year 1863. 

 Night operative in cotton-gin at Mansurah .241- 

 Day operative, same work, boy or girl .13 



Laborer on Suez Canal .30 



This was the period of the cotton mania. The American consul, writ- 

 ing at the time, said, '• within a year wages have been doubled." 



In 1865 the American consul reported that there had been an important 

 rise in wages in late years, mainly due to the redundance of s]5ecie caused 

 by the high prices at which cotton sold. 



In 1867 the British consul reported that "wages and land had quad- 

 rupled." 



Between this period and 1878 there seems to have been a fall in wages. 



Year 1873. 



i Lower Egypt, .15 



Field laborers ^Middle " .10 



(Upper " .07 



Unskilled operatives in factories and at salt works, accord- 

 ing to age and ability, 15c. @ 40c. per diem, average.... . 23|^ 

 Mechanics, such as masons, carpenters, blacksmiths, etc., 



without board or ration 60 @ 1.00 



The American consul reported in 1873 that wages appear to have de- 

 clined since the cotton mania, but that they are said to be now rising 

 again. 



Efficiency of Labor. 



An Egyptian laborer is considered to have done a good day's work 

 when he picks 15 to 18 pounds of cotton. The American negro slaves 

 usually picked 50 pounds in the same time. An Egyptian with the aid of 

 a shadouf (pole and jar, or bucket) can raise for irrigating purposes an 

 average of about seven gallons of water per minute ; an American with 

 an improved hand pump can raise 100 gallons per minute, or 14 times as 

 much. The constant use of the stick and bastinado is necessary to keep 

 at work the fellahdeen on the Khedive's estates (C. R. 1871). This fact 



