HO PROCEEDINGS OF THE CALIFORNIA 
it flashed over me in a second that the moon was not out at that time and 
place, and as above all it was moving steadily downwards, and to the left, I 
watched it with attention and noticed that it seemed to grow a little larger and 
brighter, until finally, like a piece of burning paper, it seemed to flare up 
suddenly with a reddish light, and go out in silence. 
The next day but one, as Professor John LeConte had asked me to record 
its appearance, as near as may be, I repaired to the same place at about the 
same time as before, so as to have the conditions as near the same as before, 
and with a transit took the bearings of its course as nearly as could be done 
by such a rude means of approximation. 
Bearingaticommencement 755 oe: 3 <<. spots wetness a aelele S. 83° E. 
Bearing atienditer cis. - eee a ee sono. lon sean §. 81° E. 
Altitude at commencement...... ............. =\6.6 A Nets a payee 35° 
Altitud Grab ema: so e-4 cosas sso Seren ere) ores Fo) vena che eel ore Se oe AE A ate 25° 
The duration, as near as I could judge, was one second. The date, Decem- 
ber 9, 1874; 6:30 P. M. 
Charles Wolcott Brooks read the following: 
Report of Japanese Vessels wrecked in the North 
Pacific Ocean, from the Earliest Records 
to the Present Time. 
BY CHARLES WOLCOTT BROOKS. 
Every junk found adrift or stranded on the coast of North America, or on 
the Hawaiian or adjacent islands, has on examination proved to be Japanese, 
and no single instance of any Chinese vessel has ever been reported, nor is 
any believed to have existed. 
This may be explained by the existence of the Kuro Shiwo, literally ‘‘ black 
stream,’’ a gulf stream of warm water, which sweeps northeasterly past Japan 
toward the Kurile and Aleutian Islands, thence curving around and passing 
south along the coast of Alaska, Oregon and California. This stream, it is 
found, has swept these junks toward America at an average rate of fully 
ten miles a day. 
There also exists an ocean stream of cold water, emerging from the Arctic 
Ocean, which sets south close in along the eastern coast of Asia. This fully 
accounts for the absence of Chinese junks on the Pacific, as vessels disabled 
off their coast would naturally drift southward. 
A noticeable feature is the large number of disasters on the coast of Japan 
in the month of January, during which season the strong northeast monsoons 
blow the wrecks directly off shore into the Kuro Shiwo. 
The climate of Japan is temperate, with the exception of the extreme north- 
ern provinces, where intense cold prevails and where snow is abundant; and 
the extreme southern provinces, whose climate is very warm. 
About the year 1639 the Japanese Government ordered all junks to be built 
with open sterns, and large square rudders, unfit for ocean navigation, hoping 
