public static int getNumberEqual(int x[], int n, 
                                 int val) {
  int count;
  if (n <= 0) {
    return 0;
  }
 else {
    if (x[n-1] == val) {
      count = 1;
    } 
    else {
      count = 0;
    }  // end if

  return getNumberEqual(x, n-1, val) + count;
  }  // end if
}  // end getNumberEqual