152 THE SUBANU. 
rance, savage men whose minds had not yet devised a name for the 
result when to one they added another, cuts in precise knowledge the 
migration of the keen Polynesian race with its equipment of a perfect 
decimalsystem. Wecan readily comprehend how their gift of numbers 
was welcomed by the lowly folk whom they met upon their course to 
the new Pacific home. But how it has come to pass that the Malayan 
folk, a race of at least equal culture attainments, adopted the numerals 
of the fleeing Polynesians so completely is for the present a mystery 
beyond our powers of solution. Between decimal Polynesia and deci- 
mal Indonesia we shall find a great variety of adoption by the rude folk 
of the intervening Melanesia. We shall find some communities which 
had advanced in numeration to the possession of names for one and 
two and three, to which a few had added four; five seems to have come 
as a distinctly new concept to the most of them, for the number of these 
languages is enormous in which we find five to be represented by the 
Polynesian word for hand, lama. With this acquisition two-thirds of 
them were content, the remainder third adopted the Polynesian desig- 
nation of ten, and of these last ambitious folk only a few more than half 
assumed the names of the intervening digits. 
In our examination of this Melanesian arithmetic we shall find 
it convenient to follow the classification presented by Prebendary 
Codrington (The Melanesian Languages, page 235) and continued by 
Sidney H. Ray (Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres Straits, 
vol. III, page 470). 
The lowest system is the quinary. In Uni and Eromanga we find 
it with Polynesian names for all five digits; in Aneityum with Polyne- 
sian I, 2,5; in Tanna with all five digits Polynesian and 10 represented 
by 5+5. Epi, Paama, and Sesake have all five Polynesian digits, 
10 =2X5; the intervening digits are represented by 1, 2, 3, 4, not addi- 
tive to 5 as later we shall frequently find them, but with a prefix, /a in 
Sesake, o in Epi and Paama. Efaté assumes the Polynesian digits 
2,3,4,5; 10=2%X5; the intervening digits are the first four additive to 
5,6=5 +1. 
The next group comprises the imperfect decimals, systems which 
count one hand to 5, count that hand plus the fingers of the second hand 
to 9, and possess a designation for 10. ‘The detailed information of this 
class may be epitomized as follows. Unless otherwise noted 6 desig- 
nates the type of all the digits 6 to 9. 
Amge. Polynesian 4,5. 6=1 and suffix. 
Deni. Polynesian 1, 2, 3,4. 6=1 and suffix. 
Nifilole. Polynesian 1, 2,3, 4. 6=1 and prefix. 
Savo. Polynesian 1, 2,4. 6=1 and prefix. 
Lakon, Pak, Malekula. Polynesian 1, 2,3, 4,5. 6=1 and prefix. 
Lo, Norbarbar, Volow, Motlav, Mota, Mosin, Vuras, Gog, Merlav, Maewo, Ambrym, Vitu, 
Marina. Polynesian 1, 2, 3, 4,5,10. 6=1 and prefix. 
Marina. Polynesian 1, 2, 3, 4,5, 10. 6=1 and suffix, 7=1 and prefix. 
Nakanai. Polynesian 1, 2, 3, 4,5,9, 10,20. 6=1 and prefix. 
Barriai, Kalil. Polynesian 1, 2,3,4,5, 10. 6=5-+1. 
Kilengge. Polynesian 1, 2,3, 4,10. 6=1. 
