18 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [Jan. 



p. m. of the 13th, there was no sign of meteors; but at half-past 

 4 a. m. of the 14th instant, they were in great abundance over Kish- 

 naghur. I cannot say at what hour they first began to fall, although 

 I have made inquiries of watchmen and others. I looked out about 

 half past four or a quarter to five, and observed them shooting along 

 the sky divergingly and very rapidly, from some part of the head 

 of Leo major; and by their manner of comporting themselves, 

 was immediately convinced that we had come upon the great shoal of 

 November. I was most interested in detecting, if possible, the precise 

 point of divergence ; and it soon became evident that, contrary 

 to received opinion, y Leonis was not the starting point. After count- 

 ing fifty in about five minutes, I woke up five others to witness the 

 phenomenon and give aid in watching and counting. 



" We arranged ourselves looking in different directions, and as each 

 saw a meteor, there was a distinct call of the next number 51, 52, 53 

 &c. ; the stars shooting out sometimes faster than they could be 

 counted : some were lost on this account ; some, owing to the excite- 

 ment of my young coadjutors ; and many, while I was waking up 

 aid. Yet, in less than half an hour, we counted four hundred and 

 twenty ; had we been all together during the half hour, we should 

 certainly have counted more than five hundred. 



" The velocity of these meteors was exceedingly great ; there was 

 no lagging or hesitation in their course, as is frequently the case with 

 ordinary meteors : but they darted like rockets from an unseen centre, 

 sometimes three or four in one direction nearly, slightly diverging, 

 leaving long and short trains with much divergence horizonwards and 

 narrow convergence upwards. I shall call these a for reference in the 

 sequel. Others shot in different directions, east, west, north, and 

 south, and intermediate points were filled up in rapid succession ; not 

 one appeared to fall perpendicularly to the earth ; all described glow- 

 ing arcs in the sky, varying from 20° to 60° ; a few points of light 

 excepted, which described scarcely 3° or 4°. 



" Their decided and long courses, all seeking the horizon directly 

 and their persistent trains of the light, which looked like meridians on 

 a globe, strongly and unmistakably pointed to a spot in the head of 

 Leo major, then some degrees eastward of the zenith, as their radiating 

 point. 



