252 



JOUBNAL B. A. S. (CEYLON.) [Vol. VII., Pt. III. 



' they reckon by twelves, as we do by tens ;' but they have not 

 abandoned altogether the decimal system. If, however, jrnssee 

 and pancis really stand for ' twenty-four' and ' forty-eight,' it 

 will be interesting to know the Maldive for > twenty' and 

 1 fifty.' " (Journ. R, A. S., Vol. viii. n. s. 1878, pp. 193-4.) 



Mr. Ran.isinha has rightly shown, from a comparison with 

 the Sinhalese, the true meaning and value of the forms, fassehi, 

 fanas, and My a ; but it is difficult to account for the anomaly of 

 their employment in a duo-decimal system, otherwise than as 

 relics of an original decimal numeration, which, from unknown 

 causes, was temporarily abandoned, only to reassert itself, though 

 under a different garb more closely resembling other Aryan 

 vernaculars than Sinhalese. 



The following table of Maldive numerals exhibits both 

 systems : — 



