The instructors attended to the lessons in the steerage with one watch, while the other was on deck acquiring seamanship.

In the course of the month, as the boys learned their duties, and the capabilities of each were ascertained, they were assigned to their stations in the various evolutions required in working the vessel.
Boatswain Peaks had taught the boys, a few at a time, how to set a sail, reef and furl it.

They had been gradually accustomed to going aloft, until the giddy height of the main royal did not appall them, and they could lay out on the yards without thinking of the empty space beneath them.

By the first of June, all the petty officers had been appointed, and every student had his station billet.

When the order was given to unmoor ship, to make sail, or to furl the sails, every one knew where to go and what to do.