“She is well found in every respect; for I directed Shakings to overhaul her, and report to me. But it may take her two or three days longer than it has the schooners to get here. The officers may have had trouble with the foreign firemen, for I think they were a desperate set of villains. But Mr. Frisbone, Shakings, Rimmer, the cook, and two stewards, make six full-grown men; and some of the students are about equal to able-bodied men: so that, if there has been a fight on board, I am confident our side has got the best of it,” continued Mr. Fluxion, who was a muscular Christian, and rather enjoyed the idea of reducing the firemen to a proper state of subjection if they attempted to put on airs. “Raymond, the fourth officer, is as brave a fellow as ever trod a deck; and I will match him against any two of those firemen,” added Mr. Pelham, who also had some taste for a fight in a good cause. “I sincerely hope that nothing of the kind has occurred on board of the steamer,” said Mr. Lowington, who was thoroughly a man of peace, and justified no fighting that could possibly be avoided. “I don’t think any thing of the kind has occurred, and I mentioned it only as a possibility. It is more probable that some derangement of the machinery of the vessel had delayed her; and I shall expect her to come into port within two or three days,” continued Mr. Fluxion. “In the mean time, the students on board are pursuing their studies, so that there will be no time lost.” The vice-principals returned to their respective vessels; but the principal could not help being very anxious for the safety of the thirty-one students on board of the Ville d’Angers. Possibly he was not so confident as his junior officers that the young men had not gone “on a lark” in the vessel. While this conversation was going on, the signal, “All hands attend lecture,” had been displayed on board of the steamer. All the boats were in the water, and the students were soon assembled in the American Prince. As usual, there was a large map of the country to be described, hung where all the pupils could see it. In this instance it was a map of the Madeira Islands, drawn on a large scale by the professor himself. Mr. Mapps stood by it with a long pointer in his hand, when the students took their places. “The Madeiras are a group of five islands,” the professor began, flourishing the pointer over the map to attract the attention of his audience. “They are some six hundred miles from Lisbon, four hundred from the nearest part of the African coast, and five hundred from the nearest of the Azores. The principal island is called Madeira, from which Porto Santo, the only other island of any importance, is only thirty-five miles distant. The other three islands are called the Desertas: they are merely uninhabited rocks.