The film crew hacked and pushed on through the jungle. At their head Sir Ralph Gordon, intrepid explorer and sailor. He had been declaring for years that he would one day discover the Enryb, a tribe that had often been spoken of, but nobody had ever seen. Sir Ralph checked the readings on his compass and also his mobile satellite navigation devised. He nodded to the others.

‘We’re on the right track.’ He whispered excitedly into the camera. ‘If I manage to find this tribe of people it could change the way we look at mankind, at ourselves, for ever.’

He turned away from the camera and chopped away at the thick green undergrowth in front of him. He stomped through the path he had made, his team following on behind. He wiped the sweat from his forehead with the sleeve of his khaki shirt. Breathing hard because of the exertion and the baking heat, the group trudged on.

As they settled down for the night Sir Ralph filmed a short video for his millions of followers on social media.

‘If my calculations are correct, we may very well discover the Enryb tribe tomorrow. I cannot explain how very privileged I feel. I feel so humbled and honoured that I am the fortunate person whose endeavours lead to this amazing discovery. There are no records of these people. Nothing is known of them. From what intelligence we have they are a primitive basic people. We will have to be careful and sensitive. They will have never seen anything like our camera and sound equipment. Tomorrow will be a great day of discovery for both parties.’

He paused for a moment, staring off into the middle distance. The rest of the crew referred to this practiced far-away stare as his man-of-destiny look.

The next day Sir Ralph lead his brave team on through the jungle. The leader had to stop several times to talk to camera and would frequently get choked up at the magnitude of what they were about to uncover. They struggled through the thick plantation and emerged on a clearing.

In the large clearing were dozens of large huts crafted from the regional trees and plants. Sir Ralph gasped and span around in delight to face the camera.

‘This is it.’ he declared. ‘I cannot believe my eyes. After all my years of study and research, after weeks of trekking through the jungle, I have actually made my discovery.’

He pointed dramatically.

‘This is the Enryb, a people once either believed to be extinct or never to have existed at all. Come on. Let’s go take a look.’

With the camera rolling, Sir Ralph walked slowly forward. He stepped gingerly as though any step may set off an explosion. The crew, armed with cameras, microphones and mobile recording devices followed a few steps behind.

A man came out of one of the huts. He spotted them and stopped and stared. Sir Ralph and the crew stared back. Nobody moved. This was unchartered territory. The native was tall and thin with tanned skin. He wore a grass skirt that reached his knees, around his neck was a necklace of leaves with small bones attached. After what felt like an hour the native man glanced over his shoulder and shouted something in a language the crew did not recognise. Sir Ralph would later describe their tongue as being something like a blend of Portuguese and Welsh.

Suddenly natives spilled from the huts. They were all dressed the same as the first man, the women wearing longer skirts and more elaborate necklaces. They chanted as one and jumped up and down, their bare feet thumping against the dirt.

Sir Ralph looked to the camera, teary eyed.

‘This is clearly some kind of welcome chant. Look at the wonder on their little faces. Extraordinary.’

The Enryb tribe hugged the visitors enthusiastically and bowed in greeting. They pointed and stared in puzzlement at the complicated technical equipment the film crew carried. The tribe formed two lines and burst into song. Sir Ralph wiped away a tear and swayed in time with the exotic, ancient, haunting melody. Members of the tribe appeared with large drums covered in animal skin. A basic, deep beat started. Seconds later the natives launched into a wild dance, jerking their limbs and rocking their heads back and forth almost like they were suffering from an attack of some kind.

The tribe introduced the crew to their cuisine. The food seemed mostly to consist of fried small animals and a potato-like vegetable. The camera caught everything, with Sir Ralph hosting and describing the incredible scenes.

There was a final flourish of dancing and singing as the film crew said farewell. Sir Ralph sobbed and said they had changed his life for ever. The leader of the tribe bowed low and nodded. As the film crew headed back to the jungle the tribe's people went back to their huts.

They changed back into their tracksuits and t-shirts and returned to their games consoles, mobile phones and tablet computers.

By Chris Platt

From: United Kingdom