244 
A COLONY IN THE MAKING 
CHAP. 
reported that the safety of the homestead was menaced 
by the arrival of a gu-gu. After describing the malig¬ 
nant propensities of the beast, the native invited the 
lady’s attention to the garden. There, clearly imprinted 
in the flower-beds and in the dust, was the spoor of 
some large and curious animal. Inspection proved 
that the beast had approached and possibly scaled the 
house during the night, but had retired towards some 
thick jungle during the day. In a frenzy of terror the 
settler’s wife inquired how the immediate danger might 
be averted. Luckily the head boy knew. He informed 
her that if she would place one pound of sugar and five 
pounds of rice on the floor of an outhouse the gu-gu 
would be attracted by these, would eat them and do 
no harm to the human inmates. The boy proved right. 
In the morning the tracks led plainly to and from the 
hut and the rice and sugar were gone. Truly thankful 
for the scientific knowledge of her boy, the lady nightly 
placed the sugar and rice in the outhouse and all went 
well. The food was always taken, and not a hair of 
either the lady or her children was injured. Curiously 
enough, though the state of fear kept the unfortunate 
lady drawn and thin, her head boy grew more rotund 
of stomach daily ; a fact which proves how differently 
human nature is constituted. On the day the master 
came back a strange thing happened. The head boy 
disappeared, never to be seen again, and from that day 
no further trace of the gu-gu was seen near the farm. 
One can only suppose that the gu-gu, satiated with its 
orgy on the unfortunate boy, had retired once more to 
the depths of the primeval forest. 
To revert to the more generally known fauna with 
which the settler may become acquainted. The follow¬ 
ing beasts are those which may be regarded as likely 
to provide sport:— 
