sentences:  In 1772, Dr. John Fothergill of London commissioned William Bartram to explore the Florida territories, collecting seeds, making drawings, and taking specimens of unfamiliar plants.Bartram sailed from Philadelphia in March 1773, explored Georgia, and began exploring East Florida in March 1774, especially the St. Johns River and the Alachua Savanna peopled by Seminole Indians.Returning to Charleston, Bartram set out for the southern Appalachians and the Cherokee country in April 1775, unaware that war had broken out in New England.