In 1868 he went on a trip to southern Russia traveling by train from Saint Petersburg to Nikolayevsk, continuing by ship down the Volga to Astrakhan. He then boarded a military ship for a cruise on the Caspian Sea to Baku, [Petrovsk (now Makhachkala) and then to Iran. He then crossed the Caucasus and reached Poti where the "Alexander Nevsky" was moored. From there he sailed to Constantinople, Athens and the Azore Islands On the return voyage, the frigate was wrecked off the coast of Jutland during a storm on the North Sea. Though the ship was lost, all but five crew member were unhurt and safely reached shore.