>>> c = np.array(['aAaAaA', ' aA ', 'abBABba']).view(np.chararray); c chararray(['aAaAaA', ' aA', 'abBABba'], dtype='|S7') >>> c.count('aA', end=3) array([3, 1, 0]) >>> c.count('aA', end=2) array([3, 1, 0]) >>> c.count('aA', end=1) array([3, 1, 0]) >>> c.count('aA', end=0) array([3, 1, 0]) ??? DG