results which arise from combining the names of the higher and lower
numbers, according to the peculiar genius of each language. From some of
the Australian tribes are derived expressions still more complex, as for
6, _marh-jin-bang-ga-gudjir-gyn_, half the hands and 1; and for 15,
_marh-jin-belli-belli-gudjir-jina-bang-ga_, the hand on either side and
half the feet.[130] The Maré tribe, one of the numerous island tribes of
Melanesia,[131] required for a translation of the numeral 38, which occurs
in John v. 5, "had an infirmity thirty and eight years," the
circumlocution, "one man and both sides five and three." Such expressions,
curious as they seem at first thought, are no more than the natural
outgrowth of systems built up by the slow and tedious process which so
often obtains among primitive races, where digit numerals are combined in
an almost endless variety of ways, and where mere reduplication often
serves in place of any independent names for higher units. To what extent
this may be carried is shown by the language of the Cayubabi,[132] who have
for 10 the word _tunca_, and for 100 and 1000 the compounds _tunca tunca_,
and _tunca tunca tunca_ respectively; or of the Sapibocones, who call 10
_bururuche_, hand hand, and 100 _buruche buruche_, hand hand hand
hand.[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 × 1000 × 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]