 In June 1889 he arrived with 21 troopers, 8 soldiers of the Imperial Army and 13 volunteers in the British-held enclave of Walvis Bay.Soon afterwards François stationed himself at Otjimbingwe (against the advice of acting commissioner Heinrich Göring) in order to deal with opponents to German authority in the interior of the territory.In May 1890 he renewed a former peace agreement with the Herero chief Maharero and eventually occupied the completely destroyed settlement of Windhoek (founded by Jonker Afrikaner decades earlier).