Kioto, Japan. -- The Rev. Zuicho Tachibana, a priest of the great West Hongwanji temple, has returned after five years passed in exploration in the virgin parts of central Asia. His journey was undertaken for purposes of research under the instructions of Count Otani, the lord abbot of the Hongwanji temple, an enthusiastic geographer. Mr. Tachibana is a young man, 23 years old, and of such delicate physique that the natives said he must be a woman disguised as a man.
Mr. Tachibana proceeded from London to Omsk, and thence by stage coach to Semipalatins; thence to Turfan. In Sinkiang ("the new territory") passable roads were found.
During his explorations Mr. Tachibana traveled across the Takla-Makan desert, which he describes as the worst of all deserts of central Asia. Neither bird nor even insects are to be found there.
The desert is a sea of sand, where there is only the wind to hear and the moon to see. The party constantly met sand mountains more than 12,000 feet high and the men began to grumble, fearing that they would be buried by the constant sandstorms.
On arriving at Goma, on the right bank of the River Tarim, he caused considerable fright among the shepherds, as his was the first party from the south for thirty years. At first the shepherds fled, but were brought back. The feat of crossing the desert caused Mr. Tachibana to be treated with the greatest reverence by the shepherds.
At this point he left the camel caravan to follow on slowly, whilst he proceeded on horseback to Kuchar, which place he reached after three days. This is a large town, though not to be compared with civilized cities. "Nevertheless," said Mr. Tachibana, "I felt on entering it as though I had suddenly been put down in Picadilly."
Some time was passed in the neighborhood of Kasgar investigating the buried cities, and afterward the explorer proceeded through the valley to the east of Uzunling to Khotan, the districts previously explored by Dr. Stein (now Sir Marc Aurel Stein). Thence the party proceeded to Tibet for the purpose of geological investigation.
Several districts were visited by Mr. Tachibana, which had been omitted by Dr. Sven Hedin. These regions are absolutely blank on the maps, and have never been visited before.
Among the relics brought back are a quantity of writings of the Wigol tribes, by whom the Buddhist religion was first introduced into Sin-Kiang and propagated throughout China. This tribe was entirely wiped out by Mahommedan invaders. The writing of the Wigols is from right to left horizontally, and appears to have been produced by reed pens. The writings are on stones, papyrus and papers.
As soon as the records of the journey have been collated the Hongwanji temple will issue a report on Mr. Tachibana's exploration, which will without doubt be eagerly anticipated in scientific circles in Europe and America, as well as in Asia.
The above article appeared in the summer of 1912 in a number of US newspapers, including The Sheboygan Evening Press. Other
newspapers carried the same story of Tachibana in a slightly modified way.
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