[5] In 1815 Schäffer sailed to Hawaii to retrieve the Company goods left in the wreck of the Bering, which had been seized by Kaumualii, chief of Kauai island.

Kaumualii, who sought outside help in his domestic rivalry with king Kamehameha, invited Schäffer to his island and manipulated him into believing that the Russian-American Company could easily take over and colonize Hawaii.

Schäffer, "losing all touch with reality",[8] planned a full-blown naval assault of the rest of Hawaiian islands and sought support for his "conquest" in Saint Petersburg.

Mounting resistance of Native Hawaiians and American traders forced Schäffer to admit defeat and leave Hawaii in July 1817, before his triumphant reports from Kauai reached the Russian court.

[9] He pleaded the tsar to give a go-ahead for another incursion, taking Hawaii "in one blow, with such a military force that would be sufficient to both guarantee Russian possession and instill respect".

[10] The directors of the Company continued raising similar proposals, until Nesselrode voiced his and Alexander's firm aversion against any conflicts in the Pacific.

[11] By this time the United States established a permanent consulate in Honolulu; Kaumualii, the only ally of Russians, was subdued by Kamehameha's son and successor Liholiho.

[16] Schäffer's group was granted lands in Bahia and set up Frankenthal, the first successful German settlement in Brazil (present-day Ilhéus).

In 1827[16] Schäffer returned to Brazil and applied to the king for a noble style of marquis; Dom Pedro refused, providing only a cash reward.