It was my privilege last summer to accompany the expedition sent out by the National Academy and the U.S. Navy Department to Japan for the purpose of observing the total eclipse of the sun which took place upon the 19th of August, 1887. The route selected by our party was the one just opened to the far East over the Canadian Pacific R.R., and I was the first passenger booked in Chicago for Yokohama, and my coleague, Prof. Todd, was the first passenger booked in Boston for the same port, over the new line.