As usual, Dr. Livesey was ready to administer medical aid once again, if necessary, even to the remaining, desperate mutineers. In this particular scene, when "it was only a snatch that reached our ears," the word "snatch" is probably used in the sense that only a portion or a fragment of the shrieking/singing sound was heard. The doctor, and Long John Silver, believed the mutineers to be "drunk or raving," which, in this case, meant "raving mad."

The doctor claimed that if he were certain they were mad or in medical need, then he would go to treat them. Silver warned the doctor that he would be killed by the three mutineers if he went, but the doctor retorted that Silver's opinion could not be trusted. Anyway, the doctor did not return to help them, but he did leave them a good supply of tobacco before the ship set sail.