Brian was not going to take no for an answer. He had travelled up from Rio de Janeiro that very morning and he was hot, sweaty and tired. He hadn't seen his wife and children for six months and he had a job to do!

Fourteen bulldozers were probably enough but he had left nothing to chance and had made sure that the company had twenty of those excellent machines available.

There was a forest the size of the Isle of Man blocking their path and that new road had to be finished by the end of the hot summer! Progress was on the march and important multinational corporations were relying upon Brian and his friends.

Brian had obtained his degree in civil engineering from the University of Leeds and he had a firm grasp on the mathematical and physical properties of cement and bricks. Congratulations were in order! He was a highly intelligent and gifted engineer but he lacked what you might call social polish and he was occasionally unable to deal with people in a gracious and tactful manner.

No one’s perfect.

Brian groaned as the tribal chieftain reiterated for the umpteenth time his dull and rather irritating story. He and his tribe of fifty men, women and children lived in this particular forest and had taken umbrage at Brian's firm intention to tear it down and replace it with a magnificent motorway!

Brian glanced at his co-worker Derek McPherson (BSc Mechanical Engineering, University of Aberdeen) and ruefully shrugged his shoulders.

"Look here Mr Kaluana. It's all very well having a pop at me and the lads but we have a job to do. You know perfectly well that our company has offered to house you temporarily just outside Sao Paulo. We really are doing our best for you but all we get from you are complaints! I don't think you've fully grasped who exactly we are and that's beginning to bother me."

Mr Kaluana looked tense and agitated as Brian elaborated. "We are highly trained scientists and engineers and we're working very much in the service of humanity and progress. We have degrees coming out of our ears and we have mastered every nook and cranny of this desolate wasteland. Trust me, I'm a scientist. This land you call your home is a waste of space. A veritable wilderness if you don't mind me being frank. We are going to rip it down and build huge shopping malls and factories where you and all your tribe can buy literally anything you want!

Mr Kaluana looked bemused and confused.

"Can't you get the point? It's going to be marvellous for you and all the tribe. You will be able to pop down the shops and buy cans of refreshing coca cola, pizzas and kebabs by the flippin lorry-load. And if your beer is too warm you will be able to purchase fridges which I've noticed are conspicuous by their absence in your squalid hunting grounds. Gordon Bennett - You've just won the lottery and you're still complaining!"

Mr Kaluana was by now shaking his head and waving his index finger firmly. Brian was by now running out of patience and brought his homily to a firm and final conclusion.

"Look I'm starting to get rather sick and tired of you and your petty equivocations. At the end of the day we've bought this land from your government. It belongs to our company lock stock and barrel and we're going ahead with the road.

Mr Kaluana - you can't fight progress so go up to the canteen for a nice cup of tea and leave us to get on with the task in hand.

Mr Kaluana mumbled a few words and finally went off to get a nice refreshing cup of tea. He also enjoyed a free digestive biscuit and a complimentary apple.

Brian and Derek gave the orders and twenty very superior bulldozers attacked the wilderness and before long their work was done.