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''CORONATION OF HIS MAJESTY THE SUPREME KING OF SIAM.''

The Siamese monarchy is not hereditary—that is, not in the sense that that term is understood in Europe. There is what is called the Senabodee, or royal counselors, consisting of the chief ministers of state, who during the life of the king are merely silent counselors, but upon his death their power becomes manifest, and upon them devolves the responsibility of selecting a successor and governing the kingdom until such successor is chosen. The successor must be a prince of the realm, but not necessarily the eldest son of the late king; indeed, not necessarily a son of his at all.

The death of the late king occurred about nine o'clock The prime minister was immediately summoned to the palace, and convened the Senabodee, and before midnight the succession was determined and everything going on smoothly. They chose in this instance the eldest son of the late king, Somdetch Chowfa Chulalangkorn, a boy about sixteen years old.