148 PEOPLES OF THE PHILIPPINES 
that adolescence ceremonies for girls—a distinctive 
feature of many primitive societies—have scarcely been 
reported. 
The general high status of woman recurs among all 
the Malaysians as well as the Polynesians. It has 
suffered chiefly in proportion as Hindu, Mohammedan, 
and European influences have been operative. The 
mental attitude which it involves must therefore be 
regarded as an ancient and highly typical characteristic 
of the culture of the brown races of the Pacific, whereas 
the black peoples of Oceania—dAustralians, Papuans, 
and Melanesians—tend to draw a much sharper line 
between men and women, to the social disadvantage of 
the latter. 
Law. Primitive Filipino law recognizes only re- 
lations between individuals and between groups of 
individuals united by blood, co-residence, or common 
interests. There are no offenses against the state, 
because there is no state. Every man is his own judge 
and executioner in all offenses committed against him- 
self or his immediate group; but custom defines rather 
rigorously and sometimes intricately what his just rights 
and liabilities are. 
In the case of the most serious offenses, such as killing 
and witcheraft, the only honorable recourse is to re- 
venge, and he who did not attempt to attain it would 
brand himself as cowardly or mean-spirited. All 
grievances not of the very first magnitude are however 
expected to be settled without violence. The injured 
party levies a fine upon the offender and utilizes every 
means of persuasion, appeal to a sense of justice, pres- 
sure, or threat to enforce its payment. The offender 
usually resists up to a certain point. To yield at once 
would be a confession of guilt, or at least an admission 
of weakness that might lead to future exactions. Some- 
