Billinsgate May 3d 1754 Dear sister Eunice,

As I doubt not it will be agreable to you to hear from me so I write to you tho' I cant have much to say that is proper to be wrote. However I am well & have prepar'd for sailing having been detain'd by contrary Winds 2 or three days. I have been Entertain'd very agreably by sundry Persons especially by our Cousin Josa. Paine1 who keeps School here, & often speaks of you wth. Regard, & sends his Love & Service to all the Family. I have a good Prospect of a pleasanter Voyage than I Expected, & do not doubt to find my acct. in it having the good Wishes of Multitudes. So I bid you adieu till the happy Time when we shall meet in prosperity; dear Eunice I always think & often speak of you & count the moments of my absence longer, than from any of yr. Sex. So wishing you a pleasant Summer & good Time for Cherries I conclude Yr. Loving Brother

ROBERT-TREAT PAINE

NB Tis not every thing I meet wth. in every place, that pleases me better than some thing in some place.

RC ; addressed: "To Mrs. Eunice Paine att Boston"; endorsed.

1.

Josiah Paine (b. 1732), a second cousin of RTP. See Abigail Paine to RTP, Feb. 28, 1746/7.

May 4, 1754

Whereas we the Subscribers, have Shiped our Selves on board the Sloop Seaflower,1 on a Voyage to be made toward Davis's Streights2 a Whaling; of which Vessell, Robert Treat Paine is Commander & Elisha Mayo is Master of the Whale fishery. These therefore may certify that we hereby agree & covenant wth. our Owners & among Ourselves in Manner following Vizt. First That we will faithfully & carefully do our duty on board the sd. Sloop respecting the Navigating her to, at, & from Davis's Streights until our Proper Discharge at the Conclusion of the Voyage at Boston or Cape Cod. 2dly. Upon our arriving on Whaling Ground, we promise to exert our selves wth. all Vigour in killing & saving209as many Whales as we may have a Chance for, every one in his Station consulting the Good of the Voyage. idly. We promise that, tho' we should meet wth. bad Weather & bad Success, yet we will not raise Any disputes or differencys, or make Any Uneasinesses with regard to putting away for home, till the Master of the Vessell & the four End Men & half the remainder of the Company Shall think it adviseable so to do. 4thly. That Whereas the good of the Voyage depends on our being Sober as well as couragious, we hereby one & all agree & consent, that if Any Man aboard has Rum, Whether it be divided to him of the Common Stores or whether he bring it aboard on his Own perticular acct. yet if he use it so as to disguise his Senses & render him Unfit for Business it shall be taken from him & honestly kept, so that he may have it as often & in such quantitys as will be serviceable to him. 5thly. It is furthermore agreed that Whereas the sd. Paine & his Partners have Provided the Sloop Seaflower, & have fitted her out wth. Provisions & Stores proper for the Voyage, that for the Consideration thereof, they are to draw one half of all that may be gotten on the said Voyage; And the Company, in consideration of their Labour are to draw the other half, each one paying for the Trying of his Share of the Oyl and for the Barrells that contain the Same, & their proportion of such other Charges as are customary in the like Cases. 6thly. With regard to the half part of the Voyage that belongs to the Company, it is to be divided into Eighteen Shares & one single Share to be given to each of the fourteen Men & then there remains four Shares to be divided in Manner following vizt. These four Shares being divided into twelve Parts: Robert Treat Paine is to draw one share, Elisha Mayo three Shares, Ebenezer Atwood two Shares, William Atwood one Share & an half, Jonathan Young one Share & an half, Jonathan Sawyer one share, Daniel Eldridge half one share, Joseph Sweat half one share, Benjamin Hamlin half one Share, Thomas Dill one quarter Share & Jonathan Abrahams one quarter Share, the whole amounting to twelve Shares. 7thly. & lastly we promise to use frugality in the use of the Stores, avoiding any Waste & unnecesary Expence, so as that we may be able to tarry long on the Whale Ground if we should not have speedy Success. And in Testimony of this our Mutual Agreement we sign two Instruments of this Tenor & date the one delivered to the sd. Paine in behalf of the Owners & the other kept in behalf of our Selves, one of which being comply'd with, the Other becomes Void, to the Performance of wch. we bind ourselves in the Penal Sum of Twenty Pounds to be paid by the Party offend-210ing to the Party complying. Dated in the Province of the Massachusetts Bay this fourth day of May 1754. NB: the words (Boston & Cape Cod) were interlind before signing.

Test EBENEZER ELDREDG EBENEZER BAKER ROBERT TREAT PAINE ELISHA MAYO EBENEZER ATWOOD his Mark X WILLIAM ATWOOD JONATHON YOUNG JUNR. JONETHEN SAWYER DANIEL ELDRIDGE JOSEPH SWEAT ROBERT PEPPER THOS: DILL JUNER JOHN BROWN his mark X EBENEZER DOW JONATHAN AVERY his Mark X BENJAMIN HAMLIN

MS .

1.

RTP sailed the Seaflower from Boston to Billingate on Apr. 22, arriving the next day. He completed his crew, loaded additional stores, and sailed from Billingate Bay on May 6. His diary entry for that day reads: "a fine morning Wind at SW abt. 10 oClocke we hove up & came to sail & turn'd out of the Bay, being bound on a Voyage to Greenland or Davis's Streights; And so God send good Success to the Seaflower & her Company; for Occurencys of the voyage see Mariner's Journal."

RTP kept a logbook and journal of the voyage in which he records the taking of two sperm whales, one on June 11, off Cape Farewell, Greenland, the other on June 27. Judging from the receipts and bills for the voyage kept in the Paine Papers, little profit was made. They returned to Billingate on Aug. 27. By the end of September the cargo had been sold, the crew paid, and RTP was casting about for another venture.

2.

Davis Strait lies west of Greenland and connects Baffin Bay with the Atlantic Ocean (Lippincott Gazetteer).