The Irish seafarer and pioneer Japanese Buddhist Charles Pfoundes spent thirteen years in London from 1879-1892; by day a lowly scribe in the Admiralty but on evenings and weekends studying Buddhism and offering public lectures on Japanese art, Buddhism and Theosophy. In 1892 Pfoundes suddenly left for Japan, never to return, following a very public row with the (Irish) Theosophist Annie Besant. Both Pfoundes and Besant were promoting 'Esoteric Buddhism'. Why did they fall out?