The little bearded man's name was Hank, an information broker who had something of a reputation on the island. He was well acquainted with quite a few captains who frequented Nassau and, therefore, was able to amass a lot of information. Many pirates had bought tip-offs from him.
When Billy was on the Sea Lion, he had gone along with Orff to see the guy. It was also then that he came to know Hank. They even shared a few drinks together. Having a good relationship between them, Billy had elected to employ Hank's services for the Jackdaw's first voyage.
Although Hank may look unremarkable, he had his particular specialty, having done business on the island for such a long time.
He would assess the value of the prey, the information's level of detail and credibility, then combine them to estimate the overall quality of the intelligence.
