The Bush and Isolation

The Australian landscape is both a setting and a character, with its vastness, harshness, and isolation shaping the lives of characters who are often cut off from society, as depicted in 'Settling on the Land' and various tramping narratives.

Hungerford is depicted as a remote, desolate outpost, with the nearest cleared road ending miles away and the surrounding country described as a 'blasted, barren wilderness.'

The setting of the remote bush hut, surrounded by mulga scrub and dry plains, emphasizes the isolation of the men. The lack of water, the heat, and the distance to the next water source highlight the harshness of the bush.

The chapter emphasizes the isolation and monotony of the bush, with descriptions of sparse towns, endless fences, and the loneliness of swagmen and fettlers.

The bush is presented as a place of relative freedom and dignity, where a man can camp, wash, and be alone with God, unlike the city where he is constantly watched and moved on.