Jeanne Baret joined the expedition disguised as a man, calling herself Jean Baret. She enlisted as valet and assistant to the expedition's naturalist, Philibert Commerçon (anglicized as Commerson), shortly before Bougainville's ships sailed from France. According to Bougainville's account, Baret was herself an expert botanist.After Commerson's death, Baret seems to have found work running a tavern in Port Louis for a time. Then, on May 17, 1774, she married Jean Dubernat, a non-commissioned officer in the French Army who was most likely on the island on his way home to France.
There is no record of exactly when Baret and her husband arrived in France, thus completing her voyage of circumnavigation. Most likely it was sometime in 1775. In April 1776, she received the money that was due to her under Commerson's will after applying directly to the Attorney General.
With this money, she settled with Dubernat in his native village of Saint-Aulaye where he possibly became the blacksmith. She died in Saint-Aulaye on August 5, 1807, at the age of 67.
