through certain ceremonies in concert to drive away evil spirits, and on one of these nights large and small guns are fired for this purpose from the top of the walls every twenty minutes till morning.
Soon after New Year's Day, and again some six months later, the Siamese princes, lords and nobles, and all among the people who hold any office, however small, take the oath of allegiance. They assemble at the royal palace and drink the "water of vengeance" and sprinkle it upon their foreheads. Do you ask, "What is the water of vengeance?" It is water in which have been dipped swords, daggers, spears and other instruments by which the king executes vengeance on those who rebel against him. By drinking of it they express their willingness to be punished with these instruments if found disloyal. The priests are excused from this service by virtue of the sanctity of their office, but they meet in the royal temple on that day and perform appropriate religious services. Some of this water is sent to the residences of the governors in the distant provinces, and the neighboring people assemble there to drink it.
Soon after the ceremony of taking the oath of allegiance the Siamese have for four days a kind of second New Year, the time for which is fixed by the sun instead of the moon. The priests are invited to meet at the palace for a royal festival,
