The ceremonial details of wat-life are monotonous. Monks rise at daybreak. At about seven the streets of Bangkok are crowded with these yellow-robed gentry paddled around with their rice-bowls from door to door. At eight they return to breakfast in a large hall, which, with the kitchen and its enormous rice-boilers, is worthy of a passing look. The last meal of the day is taken before noon. Priests are supposed to devote themselves to meditation and study, but the majority are illiterate and often vicious――“idleness personified.” About sunset, assembled for united prayer, their loud singsong drawl can be heard some distance off. The beating of a drum closes the wat-day. Each chapter is under the direction of a chief priest, and the larger ones have a sort of second chief priest. Their authority is confined to reproof, and in extreme cases to expulsion. They can only enforce the rules of the order. Wats built by the royal family or nobility are called _Wat Hluang_, or “royal wats.” The wats of the people are _Wat Ratsadom_. Church and State are one. The king is supreme in religion as in the government, and appoints two hierarchs――one for the north and one for the south. The title of this high priest is Pra Sang Karat, and he resides in one of the chief wats, and has no spiritual or temporal authority except over the wats and monks. He has an assistant second only in rank. No priest is qualified to ordain without a license from the Sang Karat. Then come the Somdet Chows, from whom the head-priests of the royal wats are chosen――the abbots of the great monasteries, I suppose we would call them. The Tananookans, one of whom assists each head-priest, are next in clerical rank. The head-priests of the common people’s wats are called Sompans. Lastly come the mass of ordinary priests, among whom there are Palats and other minor officers, who take a certain rank above the ordinary brotherhood. The _Nains_, or novitiates, are not included in the above classes, though they too don the yellow robes, shave their heads and fast as their elders. A lad must be at least eight years old and receive the consent of his parents before becoming a priest. He usually begins his connection with the wat as a pupil, living for some years under the care of some priest who is a friend of the family. Worldly concerns connected with wats are in the hands of secular attendants clad in white, who also perform the menial services about the grounds and at funerals. We would call them sextons. Nuns are not numerous in Siam. The profession does not command respect. The people look upon it as a more respectable mode of begging. Those who take such vows are mostly poor old women, who wear white and live in humble huts near, but not within, the wat-grounds.