[2] He was sent to conduct natural history studies, supported by Count Schimmelmann, to the Danish colonies of Frederiksnagore where he became a member of the council.
He maintained a diary of his travels from Copenhagen, leaving on October 14, 1790 and reaching Tranquebar on May 6, 1791, and an excerpt was published by the Danish East India Company.
In 1798 he clashed with Colonel Bie and resigned from military service in 1799 but continued to stay member of the council.
[6] A debt of 665 Danish rigsdaler was paid by Ove R. Sehested who along with Tønder Lund obtained a number of his insect specimens.
[9][10][4] A diagnostic one-page classification table of the Scarabaeidae was published posthumously by the Asiatic Society of Bengal (which had elected him honorary member in 1802[11]) in 1803.