Fifteen men on the Dead Man’s Chest Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum! Drink and the devil had done for the rest Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum! Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson’s well-known novel, Treasure Island, was first serialised in the magazine Young Folks (1881–82) and published in book form a year later, in 1883. This tale of pirates, treasure hunts, and exciting adventures is also an absorbing coming-of- age story. Jim Hawkins, the main character, is a young man who helps his parents run an inn near Bristol, England. His life turns upside down the day Billy Bones (“the captain”) walks into the inn. Billy Bones is a pirate who is in possession of a treasure map. He goes on to introduce young Jim to one-legged pirates and ruffians, talking parrots, blind beggars, and a host of other characters. Jim faces many life-and-death situations as the adventure heats up and he learns valuable moral lessons along the way, giving readers a delightful taste of French bourgeois life.