# Billy Bones — Treasure Island character guide

> Billy Bones in Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Bill, Billy, Master Billy Bones

**First appearance:** 0004-i-at-the-admiral-benbow

## Snapshot

A scarred, rum-soaked old buccaneer who takes a room at the Admiral Benbow and pays in gold to be left alone with his terrors.

## Who they are

Billy Bones arrives at the Admiral Benbow inn as a paying lodger with a sea-chest, a saber cut, and a habit of watching the cove for ships. He drinks slowly, sings the dead man's chest song, and rules the taproom with a commander's glare — yet something is clearly hunting him. His fear, his gold, and the map he guards set the whole story in motion and make the inn a place no reader can leave quietly.

## Relationships

### [Long John Silver](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/treasure_island_se/characters/long_john_silver)

_professional_

Billy Bones was an old shipmate of Silver's, and his death sets the treasure hunt in motion.

### [Long John Silver](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/treasure_island_se/characters/long_john_silver)

_professional_

Billy Bones was an old shipmate of Silver's, and his death sets the treasure hunt in motion.

### [Long John Silver](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/treasure_island_se/characters/long_john_silver)

_professional_

Billy Bones was an old shipmate of Silver's, and his death sets the treasure hunt in motion.

## In the story

### [Treasure Island](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/treasure_island_se/chapters/treasure-island)

The old sea captain who lodges at the Admiral Benbow and possesses the treasure map.

### [Part I: The Old Buccaneer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/treasure_island_se/chapters/part-i-the-old-buccaneer)

The old buccaneer who lodges at the inn and possesses the treasure map.

### [At the Admiral Benbow](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/treasure_island_se/chapters/i-at-the-admiral-benbow)

The old seaman who lodges at the Admiral Benbow, known only as 'the captain'; he is secretive, violent when drunk, and lives in fear of a one-legged man.

### [II: Black Dog Appears and Disappears](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/treasure_island_se/chapters/ii-black-dog-appears-and-disappears)

The captain is confronted by Black Dog, fights him, suffers a stroke, and is bled by Doctor Livesey.

### [III: The Black Spot](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/treasure_island_se/chapters/iii-the-black-spot)

The captain is weak and paranoid, begs for rum, receives the black spot from Pew, and dies of apoplexy.

### [IV: The Sea-Chest](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/treasure_island_se/chapters/iv-the-sea-chest)

The dead captain lies in the parlor; his key is retrieved from around his neck.

### [The Last of the Blind Man](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/treasure_island_se/chapters/v-the-last-of-the-blind-man)

Found dead by the pirates; his body is searched for the map.

### [The Captain's Papers](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/treasure_island_se/chapters/vi-the-captain-s-papers)

His logbook and treasure map are the central objects of the chapter; his account-book records his pirate shares.

### [The Man of the Island](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/treasure_island_se/chapters/xv-the-man-of-the-island)

Mentioned as the mate on Flint's ship when the treasure was buried.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/treasure_island_se/characters/billy_bones
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/treasure_island_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/treasure_island_se/characters