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19
Never did I feel in such complete solitude in the haunts of my
fellow men. Everyone I meet casts a suspicious glance and passes
on . Never was a man more at a loss what to do than I am, 16,000
miles away from those on whom I have been accustomed to rely when
in difficul ty , possessed of neither the money to permit me to
remain idle, nor havi.ng a profession likely to avai 1 me . Now do
I wish that I had passed my youth in some business . I had then
been differently circumstanced • • . Indeed, I have cast off
everything that time and relationship had rendered dear and
stand alone not knowi_ng where to bury myself.
ugh decided to try his prospects in Sydney but found the situation just
as unpromisi . ng as in Hobart Town.
Depressed and not knowi.ng in which
direction to turn to become a useful member of society, he returned to
Hobart Town in December, 1835, where he was advi sed to try the northern
part of the island .
He decided to make the journey on foot as it would
be less expensive and enable him to make more enquiries on the route than
he could do if he went by coach.
At Oatlands he was amazed to find that
the District Srgeon supported himself as much by horse dealing as by his
profession;
at Ant ill Ponds P. Harrison of Woodbury advised him that there
was nothi _
ng worth attendi.ng to in the colonies but whal e oil and wool;
at Mona Vale W. Kermode declared that Pugh had brought his know ledge to a
bad market as few doctors were needed and they were in excess;
W. Archer
also explained that he was anxious , in common with other old settlers , to
induce respectable settlers to establish themselves in the colony , but
then, as they were agreed that his profession was not worth thinking about
here, they would say no more about it;
instead, he recommended that Pugh
take up sheep farmi ng like so many other ships ' captains and surgeons had
done .
Only Major Lord gave any encouragement by advisi.ng him to go to
Launceston where a living could be had .
Here Pugh found five doctors
already established and several others in the neighbourhood ,!
however , had a happy ·ending .
His story,
He remained in Launceston where he achieved
considerable success as a medical man , a naturalist and an amateur
scientist .
In 1837, the nglish medical journal Lancet published a letter
signed by "Medicus" who described an even unhappier experience:
Havi_ng lately returned from Aus tralia where I was persuaded to
go as the surgeon of a ship, for the expense of my passage ,
under the as"surance of there being a great demand there for
medical men through the medium of your much read journal , permit
me to put young ' men on their guard against such an impudent
imposition. The climate is· the finest in the world; there is
W.R. Pugh quoted The Illustrated Tasmanian Mail, Christmas Numb er ,
Dec. 61 1934.