Colonel Julien-Désiré Schmaltz or Julien Schmaltz (5 February 1771, Lorient

Lorient

Lorient, or L'Orient, is a commune and a seaport in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France.-History:At the beginning of the 17th century, merchants who were trading with India had established warehouses in Port-Louis...

-1826) was a French colonial administrator and governor of Senegal

Senegal

Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...

 from 1816 to 1820.

On 17 June 1816, Schmaltz departed for Saint-Louis, Senegal

Saint-Louis, Senegal

Saint-Louis, or Ndar as it is called in Wolof, is the capital of Senegal's Saint-Louis Region. Located in the northwest of Senegal, near the mouth of the Senegal River, and 320 km north of Senegal's capital city Dakar, it has a population officially estimated at 176,000 in 2005. Saint-Louis...

 aboard the frigate Méduse to take up his position as Governor of Senegal, which would be handed over by the British on their arrival, under the command of Thomas Brereton

Thomas Brereton

Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Brereton was an Irish soldier who led the dragoons against the rioters during the Bristol Riots and was subsequently court-martialled for his leniency.He was the governor of Senegal by the time of the Méduse tragedy....

. The ship ran aground on sand banks 50 kilometres from the Senegalese shore, partly because of Schmaltz's impatience and partly because of the incompetence of the captain and navigator. The tragedy that ensued after it was decided to set 146 of the 400 passengers on a hastily built raft was immortalized in Géricault's painting The Raft of the Medusa. Schmaltz made it ashore in a lifeboat.

On 8 May 1819 Schmaltz signed the Treaty of Ndiaw with the Brak

Brak (African kings)

Brak was the title of the kings of the kingdoms of Waalo and Biffeche on the Senegal River in Senegal and Mauritania in West Africa until the 19th century. The main Brak was the king of the Kingdom of Waalo with capital at Diourbel north of the river, and later at Nder on the west shore of Lac...

 of Waalo

Waalo

The Kingdom of Waalo was a kingdom on the lower Senegal River in West Africa, in what are now Senegal and Mauritania. It included parts of the valley proper and areas north and south, extending to the Atlantic Ocean...

, which resulted in the creation of a series of commercial posts along the Sénégal River

Sénégal River

The Sénégal River is a long river in West Africa that forms the border between Senegal and Mauritania.The Sénégal's headwaters are the Semefé and Bafing rivers which both originate in Guinea; they form a small part of the Guinean-Malian border before coming together at Bafoulabé in Mali...

(Bakel

Bakel, Senegal

Bakel is a town of approximately 15,000 inhabitants located in the eastern part of Senegal, West Africa. The town is located along the Sénégal River, from the Malian border and linked by canoe ferry to the town of Gouray, Mauritania. It is one of the three departmental capitals in the region of...

, 1820 ; Dagana

Dagana, Senegal

Dagana is a town in the Saint-Louis Region of Senegal and the capital of the Dagana Department. It shares its name with the Dagana River.Ethnic groups in Dagana include Wolof, Fula , and Moor....

, 1821 ; Merinaghen

Merinaghen

Merinaghen is a locality in Northwest Senegal. A fort was built there in 1822 to facilitate trade along the Sénégal River, and a village survives to this day.-Further reading:...

, 1822 ; Lampsar, 1843 ; Sénoudébou, 1845). This resulted in some conflict with local chieftains.

He initiated a far-reaching project of agricultural colonization in the region of Waalo

Waalo

The Kingdom of Waalo was a kingdom on the lower Senegal River in West Africa, in what are now Senegal and Mauritania. It included parts of the valley proper and areas north and south, extending to the Atlantic Ocean...

, which gradually failed after he left office and was abandoned in 1831.