link a torch made of tow and pitch; here, Silver uses the word simply to mean "a light" (for his pipe).
to lose that much blunt, and be hanged into the bargain Blunt is old slang for money, cash; Silver is saying he thought he had lost the treasure and on top of that would be brought to trial and executed.
die a gentleman a gentleman of fortune, a pirate.
my cock my fine young man; the cock is the male of the chicken (in modern American usage, the rooster) and certain other birds, and in another sense the word can mean leader or chief, especially one with some boldness or arrogance. Silver is addressing Jim with a semi-affectionate, semi-ironical pet name, probably in reference to Jim's having just admitted that he hid the ship and did away with Silver's old shipmate Hands.
batten down your hatches to fasten canvas over a ship's hatchways (covered openings in the deck) as in preparing for a storm; here Silver simply means "shut your mouth."
dogwatch nautical term for either of the two duty periods (from 4 to 6 p.m. and from 6 to 8 p.m.) that are half the length of a normal duty period.
I never seen a pack of fools look fishier . . . gaping and goggle-eyed (like fish) in surprise.
keelson a longitudinal beam or set of timbers fastened inside the hull of a ship along the keel to add structural strength.
we've split upon Jim Hawkins Silver is opposing Tom Morgan's argument that Jim should be killed.
some by the board Silver means that some who challenged him had been made to walk the plank; that is, they had been forced to walk blindfolded along a board extended over the water from the ship's gunwale until they ran out of board and fell to their deaths. Contemporary pirate scholarship says there is no evidence that this was ever actually done.
hazing in nautical terminology, punishment or harassment, often by forcing to do unnecessary work.
you ain't dumb you are not silent; you can speak.
a gay lot to look at Silver means something like "a nice lot," spoken ironically; "gay" had not in Stevenson's time taken on a widely known sexual meaning.
don't vally bullying a marlinespike don't value [appreciate] bullying at all; a marlinespike is a pointed metal tool for separating the strands of a rope in splicing.
Fo'c's'le council forecastle council; the man is citing rules that allow the crew to take council among themselves.
back to back facing away from each other, with backs touching, as in holding off attackers or opponents.
stanch an old spelling of staunch: firm; steadfast; loyal. Silver is using the term in a figurative sense of the nautical meaning watertight and seaworthy.
calker a variant spelling of caulker: a substance, as a puttylike sealant or oakum, used to stop up cracks in a boat. Silver calls his drink of cognac a calker, because he is using it to prepare for trouble from his crew, figuratively rough weather.
lubber an inexperienced, clumsy sailor.
depytation deputation, a group of persons or a person appointed to represent others.
What fool's cut a Bible? To cut or tear a page out of a Bible is apparently considered very bad luck.
the rules Throughout this part, Silver and the others are referring to a set of rules or code of honor by which gentlemen of fortune have agreed to be bound; this was slightly different from ship to ship and from pirate captain to captain, but was essentially a democratic code specifying rights and responsibilities.
you want to play booty . . . Booty is used in the sense of any gain, prize, or gift; the man apparently accuses Silver of acting for his own gain rather than the common good of his crew.
plum-duff plum pudding, a rich dessert made of raisins, currants, flour, spices, suet, and then boiled or steamed.
aboveboard in nautical terms, above deck; here used figuratively to mean still alive.
I leave it to fancy where your mothers was . . . I leave it to imagination . . .; Silver is insulting their mothers without actually saying anything specific.
ague shakes trembling from a fever.
J. F. and a score below . . . Flint's characteristic signature: his initials with a line drawn below them and a knot (clove hitch) drawn on the line.
your sauce your impertinence, impudence.
environed surrounded.
a noo boarder . . . a new boarder; throughout, in the speech of Silver and others, the vowel sound in such words as duty and new is often rendered as oo, apparently to denote a difference in dialect between that of these uneducated men and that of the "gentlemen," Trelawney and Livesey. (While in American speech today this distinction is seldom made, in Stevenson's time the difference between the vowel sounds of "noo" and "new" would have been approximately the same as the difference made today in such pairs of words as "coot" and "cute.")
supercargo an officer on a merchant ship who has charge of the cargo and business dealings.
malaria an infectious disease transmitted by the bite of an infected mosquito; while malaria and yellow fever are two different diseases, their symptoms at the outset are similar, and the sailors would likely call either or both Yellow Jack.
separate peace a treaty or agreement that affects only one individual or group within a larger group.
I'll gammon that doctor . . . In nautical terms, to gammon is to lash up, make secure; Silver is using this figuratively, meaning something like "I'll make sure that doctor is acting in our interests."
holus-bolus all at once; in one lump.
look out for squalls watch out for sudden storms; that is, for sudden trouble.
sealed orders orders that are to be accepted before the person being ordered knows their substance or contents (such as Smollett was given when he signed on as captain of the Hispaniola without knowing the destination of the voyage); here, Silver means that he has taken Livesey's warning without understanding what kind of trouble the doctor has in mind.
fried junk a casual or slang term for fried salt pork.
cession ceding; giving over.
thwart a rower's seat extending across a boat.
marish an archaic term for marshy, swamp-like.
broom any of a group of flowering shrubs of the pea family.
a blue mug a blue face; apparently Flint's habitual heavy drinking of rum had resulted in broken capillaries in his face, making his skin in those areas appear to be purplish or blue.
guinea an English gold coin (last minted in 1813) equal to 21 shillings (a little over a pound).
pig-nut any of several bitter, astringent hickory nuts.
already ambushed already waiting in ambush.
his old negress Silver's wife, as Squire Trelawney reported early in the book, is a woman of color. Negress was in Stevenson's day an acceptable, polite term to designate a woman of African descent, whereas Trelawney's phrase, correct in the early twenty-first century, was condescending in earlier times.
something of a butt the object of jokes and teasing.
wain-ropes wagon-ropes; the ties by which a wagon is secured and drawn; Jim is saying he couldn't be dragged by oxen to another such voyage.
