[133] More remarkable still is the Ojibwa language, which continues
its numeral scale without limit, furnishing combinations which are really
remarkable; as, _e.g._, that for 1,000,000,000, which is _me das wac me das
wac as he me das wac_,[134] 1000 x 1000 x 1000. The Winnebago expression
for the same number,[135] _ho ke he hhuta hhu chen a ho ke he ka ra pa ne
za_ is no less formidable, but it has every appearance of being an honest,
native combination. All such primitive terms for larger numbers must,
however, be received with caution. Savages are sometimes eager to display a
knowledge they do not possess, and have been known to invent numeral words
on the spot for the sake of carrying their scales to as high a limit as
possible. The Choctaw words for million and billion are obvious attempts to
incorporate the corresponding English terms into their own language.[136]
For million they gave the vocabulary-hunter the phrase _mil yan chuffa_,
and for billion, _bil yan chuffa_. The word _chuffa_ signifies 1, hence
these expressions are seen at a glance to be coined solely for the purpose
of gratifying a little harmless Choctaw vanity. But this is innocence
itself compared with the fraud perpetrated on Labillardiere by the Tonga
Islanders, who supplied the astonished and delighted investigator with a
numeral vocabulary up to quadrillions. Their real limit was afterward found
to be 100,000, and above that point they had palmed off as numerals a
tolerably complete list of the obscene words of their language, together
with a few nonsense terms.
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