In Bristol the squire had hired a schooner called the Hispaniola and a crew. The cook was a tall one-legged man named Long John Silver, who kept a tavern by the docks and had a parrot on his shoulder that screamed "Pieces of eight!" I remembered the seafaring man with one leg and was afraid for a moment, but Silver was so cheerful and so clever that I soon trusted him completely. He found most of the crew himself. Captain Smollett did not like the voyage, because everybody in Bristol seemed to know where we were going and what we were looking for. The squire would not listen. We sailed with the treasure map in the captain's cabin, and for weeks the weather was fine, the men were obedient, and Silver hopped about the deck on his crutch, kind to everyone. I thought him the best of men.