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ARITHMETIC OF UNCULTURED RACES.
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In a Puri vocabulary the numerals are given as 1. omi; 2. curiri; 3. prica, 'many': in a Botocudo vocabulary, 1. mokenam; 2. uruhú, 'many.' The numeration of the Tasmanians is, according to Jorgensen, 1. parmery; 2. calabawa; more than 2, cardia; as Backhouse puts it, they count 'one, two, plenty,' but an observer who had specially good opportunities, Dr. Milligan, gives their numerals up to 5. puggana, which we shall recur to.[1] Mr. Oldfield (writing especially of Western tribes) says, 'The New Hollanders have no names for numbers beyond two. The Watchandie scale of notation is co-ote-on (one), u-tau-ra (two), bool-tha (many), and bool-tha-bat (very many). If absolutely required to express the numbers three or four, they say u-tar-ra coo-te-oo to indicate the former number, and u-tar-ra u-tar-ra to denote the latter.' That is to say, their names for one, two, three, and four, are equivalent to 'one,' 'two,' 'two-one,' 'two-two.' Dr. Lang's numerals from Queensland are just the same in principle, though the words are different: 1. ganar; 2. burla; 3. burla-ganar, 'two-one'; 4. burla-burla, 'two-two'; korumba, 'more than four, much, great.' The Kamilaroi dialect, though with the same 2 as the last, improves upon it by having an independent 3, and with the aid of this it reckons as far as 6: 1. mal; 2. bularr; 3. guliba; 4. bularr-bularr, 'two-two'; 5. bulaguliba, 'two-three'; 6. guliba-guliba 'three-three.' These Australian examples are at least evidence of a very scanty as well as clumsy numeral system among certain tribes.[2] Yet here again higher forms will have to be noticed, which in one district at least carry the native numerals up to 15 or 20.

It is not to be supposed, because a savage tribe has no current words for numbers above 3 or 5 or so, that therefore they cannot count beyond this. It appears that

  1. 'Tasmanian Journal,' vol. i.; Backhouse, 'Narr.' p. 104; Milligan in 'Papers, &c., Roy. Soc. Tasmania,' vol. iii. part ii. 1859.
  2. Oldfield in 'Tr. Eth. Soc.'; vol. iii. p. 291; Lang, 'Queensland,' p. 433; Latham, 'Comp. Phil.' p. 352. Other terms in Bonwick, l.c.