In Chapter 24 ("The Cruise of the Coracle") Jim awakens after daylight and sees that he is floating in the little boat a quarter mile west off the southwestern end of Treasure Island, upon whose rocks and cliffs waves are breaking violently. He knows he'll be unable to land there; moreover, he sees "monsters" lying on rocks and dropping into the sea — sea lions, he will later learn. Allowing the current to carry him northward along the shore — his attempts to paddle nearly capsize the boat — he finally discovers that he can slowly guide his "coracle" closer to shore, and he feels that soon he'll be able to land. But, rounding a bend, he sees the Hispaniola a short distance away and is sure he'll be seen and captured.
The ship is under sail but behaving strangely, moving back and forth in the current but getting nowhere, and Jim begins to wonder if the two men aboard are still drunk. Eventually he paddles toward the ship, which he now guesses may be deserted. But as he approaches it he realizes that he is in great danger, for now the schooner moves toward him, bow first. As a wave lifts him in his boat, he grabs the boom of the ship's jib and hauls himself desperately up. A moment later the ship strikes and crushes the boat he has just left.
Hanging from the jib, which is swinging wildly, Jim catches the ship's bowsprit, crawls along it, and then falls onto the deck (Chapter 25, "I Strike the Jolly Roger"). Recovering, he sees no one at first, but then, with a swing of the mainsail, he sights Hands and the other man lying on the deck. The second man is obviously dead, sliding around as the ship bucks and jumps. Both men are surrounded with bloodstains, and Jim thinks they are both dead, but then Hands comes to himself, sees Jim, and mutters, "Brandy." Jim gets brandy and some food for himself from the cabin, which has been plundered and wrecked. Hands is a little revived, and Jim, telling the erstwhile coxswain that he, Jim, is now in command, runs the pirate flag down and throws it overboard. Hands, wounded in the thigh, sees that he has no choice but to help Jim sail the ship to the North Inlet, for neither of them can do so on his own and Jim will not sail for the anchorage near which Silver is camped. They agree on this arrangement and set off. Jim is quite pleased with himself for all he has accomplished, but he notes that Hands is watching him strangely.
