In 1840, Temminck eventually convinced the government by suggesting to send Pel as an ordinary colonial administrator to the Coast with the instruction to collect specimens in his spare time.
[4] This was followed on 4 January 1842 by an appointment as head of the recruitment depot for soldiers of the Netherlands East Indies Army in Kumasi, relieving Jacob Huydecoper.
[8] On 25 February 1845, Pel was appointed to bookkeeper, fiscal, secretary and cashier ad interim in Elmina, and on 3 September 1847 he was again sent to Fort Batenstein in Butre, but now as resident.
[9] For almost the entire year of 1851, Pel was back in the Netherlands, working on an article about hunting on the Gold Coast and four zoological publications.
[10] In January 1852, Pel resumed his duties in the colonial administration of the Gold Coast as bookkeeper, fiscal, secretary and cashier, an office he had earlier occupied in an ad interim position.
[9] In his article about hunting on the Gold Coast, Hendrik Pel was the first zoologist to describe the West African bush viper or Atheris chlorechis.