Skeleton Island
Skeleton Island is a small, uninhabited islet lying off the southern coast of Treasure Island, where it forms one side of the narrow passage into the anchorage known as Captain Kidd's Anchorage. Its name, which carries an immediate charge of menace, is the first of the island's place-names to enter the narrative, appearing in the cryptic notes on the back of the treasure map that Billy Bones leaves behind. There, in the same small, neat hand that marked the map's red crosses, the instruction reads: "Skeleton Island E.S.E. and by E." — a bearing that will later prove crucial to locating the buried treasure. The islet is thus woven into the very fabric of the quest from its inception, a grim sentinel standing between the adventurers and their prize.
Geography and Setting
Skeleton Island lies just off the south coast of Treasure Island, separated from the main island by a narrow, land-locked passage that the Hispaniola must navigate to reach the anchorage. The passage is described as having been "dug out, in a manner of speaking, with a spade," a vivid image that suggests both its artificial-looking narrowness and the powerful scour of the ebb tide that runs through it. The islet itself is low and sandy, joined at half-water to a long spit that encloses the anchorage to the east. When the Hispaniola first arrives, the crew anchors about a third of a mile from each shore, with the mainland on one side and Skeleton Island on the other, the bottom being clean sand. The islet's presence creates a sheltered, almost pond-like basin, but the surrounding landscape is far from welcoming: the shores are flat and buried in woods, with two little rivers or swamps emptying into the anchorage, and the foliage has a "kind of poisonous brightness." A peculiar stagnant smell hangs over the water, prompting Dr. Livesey to stake his wig that there is fever there. Skeleton Island, though small, is thus the pivot of the anchorage's geography, its very existence shaping the character of the place as both a refuge and a trap.
The Pirates' Landmark
Long John Silver, who knows the island from a previous voyage as a cook on a trader, is the first to explain the islet's significance to the crew. When Captain Smollett asks if anyone has seen the land ahead, Silver replies that he has watered there, and identifies the islet as "Skeleton Island they calls it," adding that it was "a main place for pirates once." He goes on to describe the local names for the hills of the main island — Fore-mast Hill, Main-mast Hill, and Mizzen-mast Hill — and explains that the pirates used the anchorage to careen and clean their ships, keeping a lookout on the Spy-glass. This speech, delivered with the coolness of a man who has been there before, reveals Silver's deep familiarity with the place and his ability to conceal his true intentions behind a mask of helpfulness. The islet's name, for Silver, is not a source of fear but a piece of professional knowledge, a marker of the criminal geography he once inhabited. For the honest men, however, it is a reminder of the danger that surrounds them, a name that conjures the ghosts of the buccaneers who once used this very anchorage.
The Treasure Map's Bearing
The most important function of Skeleton Island is as a navigational reference for finding Flint's treasure. The note on the back of the map reads: "Tall tree, Spy-glass shoulder, bearing a point to the N. of N.N.E. / Skeleton Island E.S.E. and by E. / Ten feet." This cryptic instruction means that the treasure is located at a point where a line drawn from the tall tree (bearing a point north of north-north-east) intersects with a line drawn from Skeleton Island (bearing east-south-east and by east). During the treasure hunt, when the party reaches the skeleton of one of Flint's victims, Silver uses the bones as a pointer: he takes a bearing along the line of the skeleton's body, and the compass reads duly "E.S.E. and by E." — the exact bearing to Skeleton Island. This confirms that the skeleton is Flint's "p'inter," deliberately laid down by the dead buccaneer to mark the direction of the treasure. Skeleton Island thus becomes the fixed point against which the treasure's location is measured, a grim axis around which the entire hunt revolves. The islet, named for the dead, is the key to finding the gold that cost so many lives.
A Place of Dread and Superstition
The name Skeleton Island carries a weight of terror that affects even the hardened pirates. When the treasure-hunters first see the skeleton in the woods, they are struck with a chill, and the memory of Flint's cruelty — how he killed his six accomplices and left one as a pointer — fills them with dread. The islet itself, though never visited in the narrative, is associated with death and the supernatural. The pirates' fear is heightened by the voice of Ben Gunn, who, from his hiding place, sings "Fifteen Men on the Dead Man's Chest" and calls out "Darby M'Graw," imitating Flint's ghost. The name of the islet, with its skeletal imagery, feeds into this atmosphere of superstition, making the anchorage a place where the dead seem to linger. Even after the treasure is found and the survivors leave, the memory of Skeleton Island remains as a symbol of the island's dark history — a place where pirates once cleaned their ships and where Flint's victims still lie, their bones pointing the way to the gold that was never theirs to keep.
