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 re-*proof, 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
