[1] Along with "The Drover's Wife", "The Bush Undertaker" is one of Lawson's first sketches, and is among the stories for which he first gained attention as an accomplished writer.
The story concerns an eccentric old man, who lives alone with only his dog for company, and his discovery and treatment of a friend's deceased body.
Dinner consumed, the man gathers a pick and shovel and travels to a "blackfellow's grave about which he was curious."
The old man, somewhat ingeniously, devises a way of carrying Brummy back home, but he is startled by numerous large, greasy black goannas.
Presently, he rises, takes up his tools, and walks back to his hut as the sun sinks on the "grand Australian bush."