Note 72 — Chapter IV · AGRICULTURAL TRIBES.
Reading edition
Hunt, describing the Murray Islands, says: “The chiefs held only their own hereditary lands, but the first fruits of all cultivated lands were presented to them as their share.… Any dispute about land would be settled by the old men who would meet and discuss the point in dispute and then pronounce their decision. Land was never sold, but could be leased, when, if used for planting, a share in the first fruits would be paid to the owner”72.