individual is getting grey-headed.

Among the Murray natives and contiguous tribes, instead of the rite of
circumcision, a ceremony called wharepin, is performed upon youths from
fourteen to sixteen. Early in the morning some of the male friends of the
boy about to be operated upon, go behind him to seize him, upon which he
sets off running as hard as he can, as if to escape; but being followed
by his pursuers is soon captured and thrown down; he is then raised up
and surrounded by several natives, who hold him and smear him from head
to foot, with red ochre and grease; during this part of the ceremony, a
band of elderly women, generally the mother and other near relatives,
surround the group, crying or lamenting, and lacerating their thighs and
backs with shells or flints, until the blood streams down. When well
ochred all over, the novice is led away by another native, apart from the
rest of the tribe, or if there are more than one, they stand together
linked hand in hand, and when tired sit down upon bunches of green boughs
brought for that purpose, for they are neither allowed to sit on the
ground, nor to have any clothing on; and when they move about they always
carry a bunch of green boughs in each hand.

They are now ready for the ceremony, which is usually performed by
influential natives of distant tribes, and which generally takes place at
the meetings of these tribes, as in the case of the meeting of the
Moorunde natives, and the Nar-wij-jerook tribe described in Chapter
II.P.220. On that occasion, there were three Moorunde natives to be
operated upon. As soon as the ceremonial of the meeting of the tribes had
been gone through, as already described, the Nar-wij-jerook natives
retired about a hundred yards, and sat down on the ground, the Moorunde
people remaining standing. The three spears which had little nets
attached to them, and which had been brought down by the Nar-wij-jerooks,