254 The N.Z. Journal of Science and Technology. [Jan. 
remarks that the different forms of the local term for ten given in vocabu¬ 
laries compiled by priests is probably due to the fact that many of such men 
are drawn from the peasantry of northern France and that they are prone 
to misuse or drop the, aspirate in such word-lists, after the manner of many 
English folk. 
Hangafulu. —This term is employed at Malekula, in the New Hebrides. 
Sangafulu. —A term used at the Lord Howe Islands. 
Sangavulu. —A form employed at the islands of Malo, Santo, and Tangoa, 
New Hebrides. In this region one meets with several dialects on one island 
in some cases. In Fiji eight of the digits are true Polynesian forms, and 
the terms for nine and ten are Polynesian words. Ten is denoted by tini, 
a word meaning “ many ” in Maori and some other dialects. But, curiously 
enough, we meet with sangavulu in Fijian multiples of ten, as rua sangavulu 
(two tens— i.e., twenty), tolu sangavulu (three tens), &c. 
Tangafulu. —This form pertains to Aniwa, New Hebrides, while tangafuru 
is used at Futuna, in the same group, where all the digits are Polynesian 
forms. Tangafuru also occurs in Indonesia. 
Ngofulu. —Employed at Niue, or Savage Island. 
Hongofulu. —Is a Niue and Tonga term. 
Sefulu. —This is one of the Samoan forms, as already noted. The pre¬ 
fixed se is apparently the indefinite article “ a ” or “ an.” In the Maori 
ngahuru the prefixed nga equals the Maori plural article “ the,” as nga whare 
(= the houses), though it does not follow that it carries that signification 
as a prefix to huru, for it may be a contracted form of the disyllabic pre¬ 
fixes anga, hanga, &c. In the word tekau, mentioned above, te is the definite 
article singular, and kau a word meaning “ collection ” or “ assembly,” 
possibly an allusion to the whole of the fingers and toes. Early visitors to 
New Zealand speak of seeing natives employing both fingers and toes in 
counting. The acquired habit of wearing boots would soon put a stop to 
such a use for the toes. 
Ongafulu, sangapulu, sangauru, and sopulu are Indonesian variants of 
the far-travelled term for ten, while sinafulu is met with in Melanesia. 
Wallace gives sapulo as occurring in the southern part of Celebes and 
Malaysia, while in the small island of Enganho, off the south-west coast 
of Sumatra, the term for ten is tahapulu. These islanders possess 
a quinary system of numeration, the names of the five digits closely 
resembling those of Polynesia. This system also obtains in parts of the 
New Hebrides; hence a dialect of Epi has lua lima (two fives) for ten, 
thus using two purely Polynesian words to uphold a Melanesian system of 
numeration. 
Another peculiarity noted in some dialects of the New Hebrides is the 
clipping of a final vowel; hence we encounter such forms as sangabur (at 
Malekula) and sanghul or sangul (at Ambryn), both terms for ten, which in 
their entirety would be sangaburu and sangulu. 
The Term “ Katoa 
At Bellona Isle, south of the Solomons, we again meet with Polynesian 
numerals, and here we find an unusual letter-change from r or l to ng. 
Thus our Maori rua (two) or Samoan and Hawaiian lua appears as ngua at 
Bellona ; toru (three) or tolu appears as tongu, and our ngahuru as anga- 
hungu. The term katoa (all) is also applied to ten. 
