 The use of an armor made of iron replaces little by little the hull of wood.It is aboard this cruiser that Jean-Baptiste embarks on his first journey, a journey of study, with his music accompanying.He departed from France on 29 November 1889, the "Dubourdieu" passes successively through the Canaries (11 January 1890), Senegal (25 January), Singapore (3 June), Honolulu (15 July), Tahiti (15 to 25 August), Nouméa (17 to 21 October), Sydney (30 October to 3 November), Peru (3 April 1891), California (31 July), Venezuela (23 September), then finally makes a return to France via Trinidad (29 September).