The ships were rated as third-class cruisers and were intended to fill multiple roles, including as scouts for the French fleet, and to patrol the French colonial empire; as such, they were given a high top speed of 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) and were optimized to use their sailing rig for long voyages abroad.

In 1871, following the end of the Franco-Prussian War, the French Navy began to make preparations for the various classes of ships that would be needed to strengthen the fleet as part of the naval construction program that would be formalized the following year.

During the meeting that day, they selected the proposal by Arthur Bienaymé, but requested several modifications; he returned his updated design by 28 January 1873, which was approved by Pothuau's successor, Charles de Dompierre d'Hornoy, on 20 June.

At some point later that year, the armament was revised again, reverting to a uniform main battery of 138.6 mm guns, but increasing their number to eight.

[3][4] The ships' propulsion system consisted of a single compound steam engine driving a screw propeller.

At a more economical speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph), the ships could steam for 3,130 nautical miles (5,800 km; 3,600 mi).

One was placed atop the forecastle as a chase gun, and it was offset to starboard so that its firing arc directly ahead was not blocked by the bowsprit and rigging.

A pair of 37 mm (1.5 in) Hotchkiss revolver cannon provided close-range defense against torpedo boats.