Note 334 — Chapter IX

Herodotus (132) speaks of the vast amount of forced labour employed in the construction of the great Pyramids; hence various writers, recalling the hardships these “slaves” had to endure, protested against the employment of “similar bodies of men” in the construction of the Suez Canal, commenting on the scandalous treatment to which they were subjected. But I have enquired minutely into this question, and I cannot find any just grounds for these complaints. On the contrary, the men employed appear to have been free labourers, fairly remunerated according to the work they performed, and, on the whole, kindly treated.