Sketch Map of British Guiana

Robert Hermann Schomburgk (1804–65) was a British naturalist and surveyor known for his pioneering surveys of British Guiana (present-day Guyana). Born and educated in Germany, he traveled to the West Indies in 1830 where he completed a survey of one of the Virgin Islands that was published in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society. In 1835–39, under the direction of the Royal Geographical Society, he explored the Essequibo and Berbice Rivers in northern South America and completed a survey of British Guiana. Upon returning to Europe, he convinced the British government of the need to demarcate the boundaries of British Guiana. In April 1840, he was appointed commissioner for surveying and marking out the boundaries, which he completed in 1841–43. His proposals, known as the “Schomburgk line,” figured prominently in the disputes of the late-19th century between Great Britain and Brazil and Venezuela over the borders of British Guiana. This “sketch map” by Schomburgk, published in London in 1840, shows the competing claims of Britain, Brazil, and Venezuela. At the top of the map are sketches of the port and lighthouse of Georgetown, Guyana and of New Amsterdam, Guyana (capit

Date

1840

Mapmaker / publisher

Schomburgk, Robert H. (Robert Hermann), Sir, 1804-1865

Place

Guyana

Archive

Wikimedia Commons

Type

map

Original size

1,024 × 1,799 pixels

Need maps for a whole project? Add Find Any Map to Claude and ask for this one by its id: 306241.