In early 1773, Romans left West Florida to travel to the northern colonies. He wanted to publish his nautical charts and navigational instructions, along with material on the natural history of the Floridas that he had gathered in his surveys. He also took rare seeds and plant specimens he had collected. His ship was "over-set at sea", and the seeds and plant specimens were lost or ruined. His navigational charts and the manuscript of the book he was writing on the natural history of the Floridas were saved.