 In spite of these obstacles, he successfully obtained approval for his project, with the help of his adjutant Chanoine.The four months of delay in the start of the mission—and the very limited funds granted—had dire consequences for the future.Voulet completely ignored the local hierarchies and took liberties with the orders he received, which were anyway very vague—he was asked only to explore the territory between the Niger River and Lake Chad, and put the area "under French protection".