bauwe = 2d 5.

NENGONES

5. se dono = the end (of the fingers of 1 hand).
10. rewe tubenine = 2 series (of fingers).

SESAKE.[228]

5. lima = hand.
10. dua lima = 2 hands.

AMBRYM.[229]

5. lim = hand.
10. ra-lim = 2 hands.

PAMA.[229]

5. e-lime = hand.
10. ha-lua-lim = the 2 hands.

DINKA.[230]

5. wdyets.
10. wtyer, or wtyar = 5 x 2.

BARI

5. kanat
10. puoek = 5 + 5?

KANURI

5. ugu.
10. megu = 2 x 5.

RIO NORTE AND SAN ANTONIO.[231]

5. juyopamauj.
10. juyopamauj ajte = 5 x 2.

API.[232]

5. lima.
10. lua-lima = 2 x 5.

ERROMANGO

5. suku-rim.
10. nduru-lim = 2 x 5.

TLINGIT, BRITISH COLUMBIA.[233]

5. kedjin (from djin = hand).
10. djinkat = both hands?

Thus far the quinary formation is simple and regular; and in view of the
evidence with which these and similar illustrations furnish us, it is most
surprising to find an eminent authority making the unequivocal statement
that the number 10 is nowhere expressed by 2 fives[234]--that all tribes
which begin their count on a quinary base express 10 by a simple word. It
is a fact, as will be fully illustrated in the following pages, that
quinary number systems, when extended, usually merge into either the
decimal or the vigesimal. The result is, of course, a compound of two, and
sometimes of three, systems in one scale. A pure quinary or vigesimal
number system is exceedingly rare; but quinary scales certainly do exist in
which, as far as we possess the numerals, no trace of any other influence
appears. It is also to be noticed that some tribes, like the Eskimos of
Point Barrow, though their systems may properly be classed as mixed
systems, exhibit a decided preference for 5 as a base, and in counting
objects, divided into groups of 5, obtaining the sum in this way.[235]

But the savage, after counting up to 10, often finds himself unconsciously
impelled to depart from his strict reckoning by fives, and to assume a new
basis of reference. Take, for example, the Zuni system, in which the first
2 fives are:

5. oepte = the notched off.
10. astem'thla = all the fingers.

It will be noticed that the Zuni does not say "two hands," or "the fingers
of both hands," but simply "all the fingers." The 5 is no longer prominent,
but instead the mere notion of one entire count of the fingers h