Bayo and the other men from the village: Klowa, Gunare, Waflo and Leonari, then went on to explain how some people had come before – anthropologists – and had asked them lots of questions. After a couple of days of patiently answering, they decided to have some fun and see if they would write down “everything we said in their little books.” They did. It was consigned to weighty tome; but at least half of it was made up. Welcome to Kombai-land, where nothing is quite what it seems.

Papua is the third largest island in the world. Its history with outsiders is volatile. Captain James Cook was the first to land on the island in 1770, but, sensing a threat, quickly (and probably wisely) retreated. In 1961, 23-year-old Michael Rockefeller went missing in the same region. Only this year, tribal chiefs have confirmed he was killed and eaten in revenge for the murder of five Asmat men by a Dutchman overseeing the colony.