 Venezuela stated that in 1822 José Rafael Revenga, Minister Plenipotentiary of Gran Colombia to Britain, proposed borders with British territories that included Gran Colombia acquiring the Essequibo territory.In 1831, Britain merged the former Dutch territories of Berbice, Demerara, and Essequibo into a single colony, British Guiana.Under the aegis of the Royal Geographical Society, the German-born explorer and naturalist Robert Hermann Schomburgk conducted botanical and geographical exploration of British Guiana in 1835.