would be ineffective. The Kulin would not have refused to obey such an interference, unless in a case where public opinion happened to be very strongly divided and one side were against him. In the case of ceremonial ordeals and expiations, as I shall have occasion to mention later on, such interference by a Headman has been effectual in staying the hands of his own men, and apparently those of the other side also.
Among the Kulin there was a Headman in each local group, and some one of them was recognised as being the head of all. Some were great fighting-men, others were orators, and one who lived at the time when Melbourne was established, was a renowned maker of songs and was considered to be the greatest of all.
If a Headman had a son who was respected by the tribes-people he also would become a Ngurungaeta in time. But if he were, from the native point of view, a bad man, or if people did not like him, they would get some one else, and most likely a relative of some former Headman, such as his brother or brother's son.
A Headman could order the young men of the camp to do things for him and they would obey him. He might, as I have heard it put, say to the young men, "Now all of you go out, and get plenty of 'possums and give them to the old people, not raw but cooked." Similarly the wife of the Ngurungaeta could order the young women about.
Each Headman had another man "standing beside him," as they say, to whom he "gave his words." This means that there was a second man of somewhat less authority, who was his comrade, or rather "henchman," who accompanied him when he went anywhere, who was his mouthpiece and delivered his orders to those whom they concerned. When the Headman went out to hunt with his henchman, or perhaps with two of them, if he killed game, say a wallaby, he would give it to one to carry; if he killed another, the other man would carry it, and it was only when he obtained a heavy load that he carried anything himself.
The account of these Headmen given by William Thomas, who was Protector of the Blacks in the early years
