Turn right, and look into 

 an African King's house 



99 



X ou are listening to the voice of your personal tour guide, 

 speaking softly in your ear. "Please continue further into this 

 hall now," the voice says, "to the Cameroons king's compound 

 direcdy ahead. . . . While you're walking there, we'd like you 

 to hear the sound of African drums — the same drums which 

 you will see in the drum shed beside the king's house." 



Museum visitors Judith Kenerpp, of Mt. Carmel, Illinois, and Charles 

 R. Madden, of Evansvllle, Indiana, decide to share their Acoustlguide 

 tour. From Mrs. Ethelyn Ann Sacks at the Information Desk they 

 rent a machine equipped with two earphones. Here, too, they decide 

 whether to take the tour on anthropology (the story of mankind), or 

 the general tour on the world of nature (geology, botany, zoology). 



Obediently you move forward and take up the indicated 

 position in front of a window inserted into the wall of the house. 

 Your guide tells you how the royal dwelling was made, points 

 out the finely carved doorposts and pillars, and explains the 

 significance of the designs on the furnishings and walls. "The 

 leopard," you learn, "symbol of royalty, is painted over the 

 bed. . . . The king's favorite wife sleeps on a mat beside the 

 bed. The king has 86 wives, but, as he often explains, he really 

 likes only a dozen or so of them — the rest are merely token 

 wives, inherited or taken for political or diplomatic reasons." 



After hearing how the king holds court and passes judg- 

 ment on legal cases, you are directed to "turn around, and 

 then follow the blue arrows down the short stairway into 

 Hall F ... to the New Zealand Maori Council House." But 

 perhaps you would prefer to linger a while among the African 

 drums and gods. Simply turn the knob on the lightweight 

 machine hanging at your side, the voice goes off, and you may 



"When Captain Cook was newly-arrived In Hawaii In 1779, he was 

 thought to be a white god, and In a native ceremony was placed 

 near this Idol/* Mr. and Mrs. John Cronln, of Memphis, Tennes- 

 see, pause at this interesting point In their anthropology tour. 



Photographs by John Bayalis 



Page 6 OCTOBER 



