Jibby Jones · Chapter
Where Is Greenland? explained
The boys follow Jibby to a ruined cellar they believe might be Greenland, but Jibby's careful pacing and map study reveal the location doesn't match.
What happens
The boys follow Jibby to a ruined cellar they believe might be Greenland, but Jibby's careful pacing and map study reveal the location doesn't match. They spot the Tough Customer and the Rat digging at the true site down in the bottomland. Returning to their boat, they find it deliberately wrecked with an axe. Wampus's father refuses to pay for repairs, so Jibby suggests the Land Pirate Treasure-Hunting Company earn the money by mining the Five Friends' Worm Mine.
Themes in this chapter
Perseverance and Problem Solving
Despite the failed map location and the wrecked boat, Jibby proposes a practical solution: mining the worm mine to earn repair money.
Adventure and Exploration
The boys explore the hill and bottomland searching for Greenland, encountering rivals and facing setbacks.
Deception and Trust
The map's accuracy is questioned, and the Tough Customer and Rat are suspected of sabotaging the boat.
Characters to notice
- Jibby Jones
Leads the expedition to the ruined cellar, uses pacing and map analysis to disprove the location, and later proposes mining the worm mine to fund boat repairs.
- Wampus Smale
Angrily blames the Tough Customer for wrecking the motorboat, and faces his father's decision that he must earn the repair money himself.
- Tad Willing
Narrates the chapter, participates in the exploration, and sarcastically questions Jibby's idea about earning money through treasure hunting.
- The Tough Customer
Spotted digging at the true treasure site ahead of the boys, and is suspected of wrecking their motorboat.
- The Rat
Digging alongside the Tough Customer at the bottomland site.
- Mr. Smale
Wampus's father, who refuses to pay for further boat repairs and insists Wampus earn the money himself.
Key passages
“There was no doubt in our minds what Jibby Jones had found when we pushed through the corn and came to where he was.”
We were certain Jibby had discovered something important when we reached him through the cornfield.
The boys' initial confidence in Jibby's find.
“I couldn't find the crossroad, nor a sign of it. And there's no sign of a signal pine. But over yonder is the creek, and this must have been the house, if the whole map wasn't just a fake and a fooler.”
Jibby admits he found no crossroad or signal pine, but thinks the cellar might be the house from the map—unless the map is entirely false.
Jibby's cautious assessment of the map's reliability.
“The Tough Customer! Wampus said, as mad as a hatter, and we all thought the same, but there was no way to prove it.”
Wampus angrily blamed the Tough Customer for wrecking the motor, though we had no evidence.
The boys' suspicion of the Tough Customer without proof.
“It appears to me that it is not right to let Wampus pay for repairing that boat. The boat was being used by the Land Pirate Treasure-Hunting and Exploration Company, and the Company ought to pay for the repairs.”
Jibby suggests the Company, not Wampus alone, should cover the repair costs since the boat was used for company business.
Jibby's sense of fairness and collective responsibility.
“I was thinking the Land Pirate's Treasure-Hunting and Exploration Company might mine the Five Friends' Worm Mine and get the money that way.”
Jibby proposes that the Company earn repair money by mining the worm mine they discovered.
Jibby's creative problem-solving to fund the repairs.
