jolly-boat a sailing vessel's small boat, usually carried on the stern.
gig a long, light ship's boat.
"looped for musketry" with small ports for firing weapons.
paling a fence made of pales (narrow, upright pointed stakes; pickets).
musket a smoothbore, long-barreled firearm, used before the invention of the rifle.
keg of pork a barrel of pork cured in salt for preservation.
painter a rope attached to the bow of a boat for tying it to a dock (or to a ship) or for towing it.
two fathoms and a half fifteen feet; a fathom is a unit of length used to measure the depth of water or the length of a nautical rope or cable, equal to six feet (1.8288 meters).
don't hang so long in stays "In stays" or "in irons" is said of a sailing vessel that is headed into the wind with no way on, one that has failed to come about (to change course so that the sails shift); the captain is using the phrase figuratively to urge Gray to change his loyalty from Silver to his rightful captain; he uses "in irons" in much the same way during his later parlay with Silver.
gallipot a small pot or jar of glazed earthenware, especially one used by druggists as a container for medicine; Dr. Livesey uses this figuratively of the jolly-boat because of its small size.
the gunwale was lipping astern The gunwale (pronounced GUN-ulh) is the upper edge of the side of a boat; water was touching the edge of the jolly-boat's gunwale at the rear (stern).
trim the boat to balance the boat by ballasting, shifting cargo, and so on.
the long nine a large artillery piece mounted on the ship; this is primed with powder and wadding; loaded with nine-pound, round lead shot; aimed; and fired by a gunner by touching the powder with a lit match. Thus, in Chapter 17, the captain asks Trelawney, who is watching the gunner, to tell the others in the jolly-boat when he sees the match so that they can hold or back the boat, because the gunner will have aimed ahead of it.
carpet bowls a game played by rolling a weighted ball at a target ball or jack, as in lawn bowling but played indoors on a carpet.
good divinity sound religious doctrine.
Jolly Roger a black flag of pirates, with a white skull and crossbones.
Ben Gunn is fly Fly is thieves' slang, originally, meaning "alert and knowing; sharp, quick."
Davy Jones in folklore, the spirit of the sea, or the sea personified; used by sailors of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
You're on a lee shore A lee shore is a sheltered shore, out of the wind; thus Smollett means that Silver and his pirates are in a bad position with no good way out.
a rum puncheon a wooden cask or barrel for holding rum.
doldrums equatorial ocean regions noted for dead calms; a sailing ship in the doldrums may be becalmed indefinitely for lack of wind.
