"Crime in the Bush" (1899) is a dramatic essay by the Australian writer Henry Lawson.
[1] The essay was first published in the 11 February 1899 edition of The Bulletin magazine, and was subsequently reprinted in a number of Australian literary anthologies.
Although generally considered, and indexed as a short story, this piece by Henry Lawson is more a rant about the isolated and terrible conditions experienced by Australian settlers in the bush: not seeing any non-family members for days or weeks at a time; working their children as slaves; and carrying grudges and slights for years that finally manifest into outright violence.
It was subsequently published as follows: Nikolett Sánta commented: "Margaret Nicholson[6] describes [Henry Lawson] as a man whose "[...] vivid descriptions of the self-reliant bush folk of the century are legendary” and indeed, even if his descriptions of the bushman in the 'Crime in the Bush' do not draw the most flattering image of these people of the Australian wilderness, it still provides readers with a sad, albeit realistic reflection of the people living under those numbing and sometimes brutish conditions.
The prevalence of the uneducated, intellectually underdeveloped bushman who lives far away from society and culture can be seen in other major Australian works as well, in A.