A map of British Guiana showing its boundaries, prepared by the German Robert Hermann Schomburgk, was published in 1840 and this marked the beginning of the border dispute with Venezuela, which is still unresolved. An earlier map of British Guiana, compiled by Captain J.E. Alexander in 1832, did not show the boundary between the countries.    In 1842, George Town became the city of Georgetown by "Royal" warrant.

In addition to establishing the boundaries,  Schomburgk's brother Richard had been commissioned by the Prussian government to accompany Robert to collect flora and fauna specimens in the Guiana forests for the Royal Museum and the Botanical Gardens in Berlin.   Richard contracted yellow fever upon arriving in British Guiana but survived.   He, along with the commissioned artist for the expedition W.L. Walton,  were sent back to England.  Edward A. Goodall was chosen to replace Walton and would receive a salary of 150 pounds per annum plus payment of his passage to Guiana.  Upon his return to London two years later,  Schomburgk had Goodall's botanical sketches displayed in Berlin and the Amerindian Tribes sketches in London and Paris.  The sketches aroused much interest and were eventually returned to Goodall who donated them to the Colonial Office.  From there they ended up in the British Museum and are now in the British Library.