The establishment of German trading firms and factories at various places on the West African coast suggested to the Imperial Chancellor the practicability of laying the foundations of his projected German Colonial Empire in the Cameroon region of the Dark Continent. On March 19th, 1884, Dr. Nachtigal, a former Consul at Tunis, was instructed to proceed on this civilising mission, and on July 5th and 6th he hoisted the German flag at Bayida and Lome, in Togoland. On the 10th of that month the English gunboat _Goshawk_ entered the Cameroon River, and the mission’s hope of further extending the sphere of German influence on the coast of West Africa appeared doomed to extinction. But the _Goshawk_ departed on the following day, leaving the field clear for Nachtigal, who rushed through some agreements with the chiefs Deido, Bell and Akva, declared the country to be under the protection of Germany on July 14th, and appointed Doctor Buchner Provisional Governor of the newly acquired territory. The new Governor acknowledged the protest against German occupation, which was formally made by the British Consul on July 19th, and proceeded to hoist the German flag at Bumbia, Maliba, and Batanga. In this nefarious and undignified manner the German Government obtained a foothold in the Gulf of Guinea, but it still remained for them to regulate their intrusion among the nations already established in the region. In order to solidify the position they had taken up, and, in the phrase employed by Siegfreid Passarge, “to withstand the intrigues and provocations of the English,” who laid claims to Victoria and the Rio del Rey coast, it was necessary to have the treaty of occupation confirmed. On May 7th, 1885, a treaty was concluded by which the British waived their claims in favour of Germany, who reciprocated by renouncing their nominal claims to Forcados, at the mouth of the Niger, and to St. Lucia. In the same year the French ceded Great Batanga and the island west of Kwakwa-Kriek in exchange for the German possession of Konakry. These treaties legalised the position, and Germany was left a free hand to develop her possessions in the Cameroons, under the Governorship of Baron von Goden.