no
reason why Oz people should go there, except on rare occasions, and
most parts of the forest have never been seen by any eyes but the eyes
of the beasts who make their home there. The biggest beasts inhabit
the great forest, while the smaller ones live mostly in the mountain
underbrush at the east.

Now, you must know that there are laws in the forests, as well as in
every other place, and these laws are made by the beasts themselves,
and are necessary to keep them from fighting and tearing one another to
pieces. In Gugu Forest there is a King--an enormous yellow leopard
called "Gugu"--after whom the forest is named. And this King has three
other beasts to advise him in keeping the laws and maintaining
order--Bru the Bear, Loo the Unicorn and Rango the Gray Ape--who are
known as the King's Counselors. All these are fierce and ferocious
beasts, and hold their high offices because they are more intelligent
and more feared then their fellows.

Since Oz became a fairyland, no man, woman or child ever dies in that
land nor is anyone ever sick. Likewise the beasts of the forests never
die, so that long years add to their cunning and wisdom, as well as to
their size and strength. It is possible for beasts--or even people--to
be destroyed, but the task is so difficult that it is seldom attempted.
Because it is free from sickness and death is one reason why Oz is a
fairyland, but it is doubtful whether those who come to Oz from the
outside world, as Dorothy and Button-Bright and Trot and Cap'n Bill and
the Wizard did, will live forever or cannot be injured. Even Ozma is
not sure about this, and so the guests of Ozma from other lands are
always carefully protected from any danger, so as to be on the safe
side.

In spite of the laws of the forests there are often fights among the
beasts; some of them have lost an eye or an ear or even had a leg torn
off. The King and the King's Counselors always punish those who start
a fight, but so fierce is the nature of some beasts that they will at
times fight in spite of laws and punishment.

Over this vast, wild Forest of Gugu flew two eagles, one morning, and
near the center of the jungle the eagles alighted on a branch of a tall
tree.

"Here is the place for us to begin our work," said one, who was
Ruggedo, the Nome.

"Do many beasts live here?" asked Kiki Aru, the other eagle.

"The forest is full of them," said the Nome. "There are enough beasts
right here to enab