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Piecework.

Working by the piece saves all this trouble, and if the men are well trained, and the work is simple, it goes on automatically and takes the smallest possible amount of attention. In detached small sites men may even be left unvisited for two or three days, merely reporting each evening how far they have worked. In one case some lads were left to work at a great sarcophagus for weeks unwatched, and came some miles to report progress, and say when further attention was wanted. The pay for that was given by contract, to cut and lift a stone lid under water, for so many pounds.

In piecework it is always best to keep a record of how long each piece has taken, as the time is one element in pricing the work done.ssss1 The ground varies in hardness, the depth of throwing up continually changes, or the presence of large stones hinders the work; therefore any exact value by a hard and fast rule is impossible. Each piece of work done has to be judged, taking the most likely scale of payment, and then tempering the result by the amount of time occupied. The general rate of pay in Egypt is ½ piastre a cubic metre for loose surface sand, ⅔ for shallow work in harder earth, ¾ for work as deep as a man, and 1 piastre for deep pits. At this scale a poor worker will barely earn day pay and a fine worker will make from 1½ to 2 times day pay. The day pay in Upper Egypt is 2½ to 3 piastres (6d. to 7d.) a man, and 1½ to 2 (3½d. to 5d.) for a boy, of fit and proper quality.