Chapter 16 of Treasure Island escalates the tension as the loyal crew takes decisive action against the rising tide of mutiny.

With Jim Hawkins still unaccounted for on the island, Dr. Livesey picks up the narration, detailing the crew’s desperate measures to survive and gain the upper hand.

Faced with a critical shortage of fresh water, staying aboard the Hispaniola is no longer an option. Dr. Livesey sets out in a jolly-boat to scout the island, seeking the stockade marked on the map—a defensible stronghold where the loyalists might have a chance against the mutineers.

The stakes are clear: they must act quickly, or risk losing everything.

Returning to the ship, the crew scrambles to load supplies—food, water, muskets—under the watchful eyes of the six mutineers left aboard. The loyalists, outnumbered and outmatched, make a bold move, threatening immediate death to anyone who signals the pirates on shore.

“Here are two of us with a brace of pistols each. If any one of you six makes a signal of any description, that man’s dead.”

In the midst of this dangerous maneuver, a glimmer of hope emerges. Abraham Gray, a wavering member of the crew, makes a dramatic choice. With a sabre-cut across his cheek and newfound determination, he declares: “I’m with you, sir.”

As the boat pushes off, the loyalists are one step closer to securing the stockade—but every move risks drawing the attention of the mutineers. The question looms: will they reach safety, or will the pirates strike first? And what of Jim Hawkins, alone somewhere on the island?

Chapter 16 sets the stage for a fierce battle of survival. Loyalties shift, strategies unfold, and the line between safety and danger grows razor-thin. The loyal crew may have their plan, but the pirates are never far behind.

MAKE A HOMEMADE WATER FILTER

“For, though we had a good enough place of it in the cabin of the Hispanolia, with plenty of arms and ammunition, and things to eat, and excellent wines, there had been one thing overlooked - we had no water.”

We’re going to make a homemade water filter using natural materials, including cotton, sand, charcoal, and other items.

TERMS TO KNOW

• “Three bells in the sea phrase” – shipboard time is divided into “watches,” and bells are rung to mark each half-hour.

• “The pitch was bubbling in the seams” – pitch, a tar-like substance, is used to seal the seams of ships to make them watertight. A hot sun makes it soften and bubble.

• Dysentery – an infection of the intestines that causes diarrhea, fever, abdominal pain, and cramping. It’s usually spread through contaminated food or water.

• Lillibullero – a satirical English folk song and marching tune from the late 17th century.

• Jolly-boat – a small, sturdy boat used aboard larger ships for ferrying crew and supplies between the ship and shore.

• Two score of people – means forty people. The term “score” is an old-fashioned way of saying twenty.

• Loopholed for musketry – a wall that has been constructed with small openings designed for firing muskets through.

• “My pulse went dot and carry one” – a pulse becomes irregular, likely due to a sudden shock, fear, or excitement.

• “Pulled a good oar” – means that he rowed the boat effectively and skillfully.

• He came nigh-hand fainting – means that he almost fainted or came very close to losing consciousness.

• “Another touch of the rudder and that man would join us” – a nautical way of saying that with one more adjustment someone could be brought over to our side.

• Stern-port – an located at the stern (rear) of a ship.

• Fore companion – an entryway or staircase leading down from the forward part of the ship into the lower deck.

• Block-house – a small, fortified building designed to protect its occupants from attacks and has narrow openings or loopholes through which defenders can fire weapons.

• Palisade – a type of fence made of wooden stakes placed upright in the ground, sharpened at the top.

• Sculled back to the Hispanolia – the act of using a single oar to propel a small boat backward or in reverse. Sculling involves moving the oar in a figure-eight motion.

• “He caught the painter and made it fast” – securing a small boat by tying the painter (a rope attached to the bow) and to a dock or other boat to prevent it from drifting away.

• Two fathoms and a half of water – a fathom is a unit of measurement equivalent to six feet. “Two fathoms and a half” would be 15 feet.