Page:Treasure Island (1909).djvu/307

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NOTES
303

English coin, worth twenty-one shillings, or about five dollars and a quarter; and pieces of eight were the old Spanish silver dollars, so called because of the value of eight reals, a real being worth about twelve and a half cents.


CHAPTER V

66, 1. Malingering. A soldiers' and sailors' term for shirking duty, generally by skulking or pretending to be sick.

2. Georges. Coins; so called from the image of the king's head stamped upon them.


CHAPTER VI

73, 1. Blackbeard. Apparently an allusion to some famous pirate.

75, 1. Palm Key. An island just off the west coast of Florida.

2. Caraccas. In the eighteenth century this name designated Venezuela and some of the adjoining colonies.

76, 1. Map of an island. A map of the island, it will be remembered, was the thing with which Stevenson began in writing this story.

78, 1. Play duck and drake with. To throw around, to waste lavishly. The old game alluded to was played by setting up a stone, and then knocking it down by tossing other stones at it.

2. Blades. Daring and reckless fellows.


PART II

CHAPTER VII

81, 1. Rum go. A queer thing. A bit of slang common in England.

82, 1. Hawke. An English admiral (1705-1781), famous for his victory over the French.

2. Tarpaulins. A cant name for sailors.

3. Come post. Come hastily, without delay.


CHAPTER VIII

90, 1. You may lay to that. A phrase common in John Silver's dialect, and meaning "You may depend upon that."

2. Dead-eye. A round, flat, wooden block, used to extend the sails and for various purposes.

3. Keel-hauling. A method of punishment in the English navy. The culprit was drawn by ropes through the water from