In 1882, almost a century after
Poland was partitioned and lost its independence, Polish nobleman and officer of Russian Imperial Fleet,
Stefan Szolc-Rogozińskiorganized an expedition to
Cameroon. Officially that was an exploration expedition, but unofficially the expedition was looking for a place a Polish colony could be founded. He had no official support from the
Russian Empire, nor from its puppet
Congress Poland, but was backed by a number of influential Poles, including
Boleslaw Prus, and
Henryk Sienkiewicz. On 13 December 1882, accompanied by
Leopold Janikowski and Klemens Tomczek, Rogoziński left French port of
Le Havre, aboard a ship
Lucja Malgorzata, with French and Polish flags. The expedition was a failure, and he returned to Europe, trying to collect more money for his project. Finally, after second expedition, Rogoziński found himself in Paris, where he died 1 December 1896.
Meanwhile, Cameroon was being taken over by Germany and Great Britain. In 1884 Rogoziński signed an agreement with a British representative, who was to provide protection to his settlement, but next year, at the
Congress of Berlin, Great Britain ceded its Cameroon possessions to Germany (see
Kamerun).