Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-08-01
BY Harriet French

| WHAT does Kay SWeeney--Wh0
has made 8 trips to Africa
within the last 8 years do when
she is not travelling to remote
places of the globe? She man-
ages her lively household in q
beautiful house on Nebraska
avenue, works on q tourist guide.
and plans lectures.
She Is well qualified to tell
about the Dark Continent Its
people. terrain, trees and plants.
With her husband, Prof. Edward
cleveland Sweeney. currently
aviation adviser to the Senate
Interstate Commerce Committee,
Mrs. Sweeney made her first
trip to Africa In l951s Mrs.
Sweeney is q botanist. her hus-
band q photographer. Africa was
4 -
good hunting ground for them
both. They returned with hum
dreds Of photographs and boz
tanical specimens. The Navy
fused some Of the photographs for
documentary records.
Skywoy to Moon Mountains
To remind them Of their trip
to Africa in 1852. when they
were accompanied by Mr..
George HI Blodgett ana his
daughter, Kathy, the Sweeneys
have q color film they call "Sky-
ways to The Mountains Of the
Moon" In viewing this film.
you feel you are going right
along with the .Blodgett-Sw
ney Lightplane Expedition from
Paris to Capetown and back.
For 5000 miles they dew--from
Paris, across Spain and the
] Strait of Gibraltar to Tangier,
Cairo, and the length of the
Nile. They paused in the Sudan
to photograph the primitive
Shilluck tribe. A hunting sa-
fari was arranged on the. High
Nasal savannahs where thou
sands OF game animals were
photographed at close range.
The expedition continued into
the Belgian Congo. over lakes
and mountains. game reserves
and on into Ituri Forest-the
home of the pygmies. Mrs.
Sweeney described the pygmies
as being under four feet. eleven
inches. They are not black. but
brown" she said, except when
there Is intermarriage with the
Bantu race. Then the offspring
is black" They live in shelters
Of woven sapplings covered with
woven mats.
The party went through Cen
trail Africa and south to Cape
town. On their return they
stopped in Equatorial Africa to
photograph the botanical growth
at 10000 feet elevation on the
Mountains of the Moon. at the
source of the River Nile.
Prof. and Mrs. Sweeney went
to Africa for the third time last
November. On that trip they
covered the length Of the Niger
River. .r4
About Nigerion Doncers
In the Sweeneys' living room
there is a vivid painting Of the
heads of three Nigerian dancers.
The dancers are called Agbogo-
Mmuo. Mrs. Sweeney explained
that "Agbogo" means maiden
and 'Mmuo" means goddess or
spirit. Agbogo-Mm Is the
good spirit who comes into the
world to dance, then retires
gracefully and quietly without
harming any one. In Eastern
Nigeria the dance usually follows
the funeral ceremony Of q very
important chief.
There was a chattering sound
| in the dining room. That's Mr..
Cooch," said Mrs. Sweeney and
she released from his cage a lit
tie South American monkey.
1--WE have just nine cats and
Mr.. Cooch, now that the children
are at camp" said Mrs. Sweeney.
1.-THE duck, rabbit, turtle and
goldfish are farmed out until
the children come home"
Suzanne, their teen-ager, is
in camp in France. learning
French; the boys. Edward. jr..
IL. and Philip, 9. are in camp
In the North. just little Har-
riet. who is six, Is at home. She
was. outside, in the swimming
pool, with a group Of her class
mates from Friends School.