192 BOOK REVIEWSissues are discussed in relation to their implications under the general andcustomary legal systems. In the first and second sections, the author rarelycomments whether the courts had, in important post-Independence cases, reachedthe correct decision. On page 129, for example, the Supreme.Court appears inDolby v. Lewis SC No. 34 of 1987 to have come to a blatantly political, ratherthan legal, decision regarding the removal of a child (of divorced parents) fromits jurisdiction. It is important, in a legal system governed by precedent, tochallenge potentially wrong decisions so that they can be overruled if necessary.In the second section, the author considers the law as it affects children. Awide range of interesting and topical points are discussed, including the status ofchildren conceived through artificial insemination, where Ncube gives a succinctappraisal of what he believes the legal situation to be. A hint of the haste earlieralluded to can be seen on page 77 where the author has omitted an importantalternative to Section 62 of the Adoption Act (Chapter 33). The text makesreference only to potential applicants who are known to the parents and completelyomits paragraph B of Section 62(a)(ii) which allows the court to select applicantson the register of the Director of Social Services.Ncube seems more sure of himself in the section on marriage. His previoustendency to disregard anomalies and contentious decisions is replaced by a suretouch, especially when discussing the proprietary consequences of the breakupof a marriage under both systems of law. Ncube sensitively discusses the needfor the courts, when splitting the matrimonial property, to be aware of obligationsboth parties Š but particularly the man Š may have to future families. Then,suddenly, after this excellent analysis, the last paragraph is abruptly reached.As is inevitable with a text of this nature, it will be out of date as soon as the(constantly referred to) Customary Law and Primary Courts Act (No. 2 of 1990)becomes operative. It is hoped that in future updated versions, Ncube will takethe time to provide the comprehensive cover promised in the preface of this firstedition.MARY STOCKERThe Conundrum Trees By C. Emily Dibb. Harare, Modus, 1989, vi, 153 ppillus., ISBN 0-908309-03-1 (pbk), Z$29,28.Few authors can write successfully about their attitudes towards animals andnature, possibly because nature inspires such intensely personal feelings'. Thislittle book of recollections is written by someone who clearly loves theZimbabwean bush and the author's enthusiasm is strongly evidenced. Unfor-tunately, there is no clear theme to the book and it comes across as a series ofsmall stories with only the author's love of nature and outdoor life in thiscountry to connect them. Although the book is well written I had some difficultyin reading it because, at times, I could not be sure what the point of it all was.The first part of the book ('On Safari') deals with incidents that the authorand her family experienced in the Zambezi Valley. Having myself lived in theZambezi Valley for several years, I have heard many similar stories, embellishedto varying degrees, and there was nothing novel in this section for me. Thesecond part of the book ('Simple Pleasures') was, I thought, rather better as theexperiences it describes are simpler, less dramatic and so better written.BOOK REVIEWS 193Perhaps this is because many of these stories stem from the author'sexperiences as a child. Childhood memories may be more vivid than laterexperiences and, with the passage of time, become romanticized. I certainlyenjoyed a wave of nostalgia while reading about many of the same things that Idid as a youngster, including sampling that most wonderful of indigenous fruits,the snot apple (I much prefer its delightfully onomatopoeic Sindebele name -ŠXaguxagu).The third part of the book ('Abdul') is about an injured Abdim's Storkwhich the author rescued and cared for until it was able to fly away. This is aninteresting and well-written piece which taught me something about these birds,but I feel that Abdul's story does not deserve such a large proportion of the bookand that one or two chapters could have been eliminated without much loss.University of Zimbabwe B. E. MARSHALLThe Praises of Dingana: Izibongo zikaDingana Edited by D. K. Rycroft andA. B. Ngcobo. Pietermaritzburg, Univ. of Natal Press, Killie Campbell AfricanaLibrary Series, 1988, xiii, 258 pp., ISBN 0-86950-629-7, R46,50.It is a fitting tribute to Dingane (Dingana) that Rycroft and Ngcobo should havereproduced his praise-poem (izibongo) in written form. This poem brilliantlyillustrates the genius of the Zulu izimbongi, perhaps most memorably expressedin the following immortal lines (p. 74)Vezi kof abantuKosal' izibongoIzona zosala zibadalulaIzona zosala zibalil' emanxiweniVezi, though people may die, praises remainThese will remain and bring grief for themRemain and lament for them in the empty homes.The book is also a tribute to James Stuart's extended study of Zulu historyand culture. The present izibongo, a tremendous 432 lines, were collated by JamesStuart from sixteen different sources and have never been published before inthis full form. The present transcription was made from six recordings made byStuart for the Zenophone Record Company in London between 1927 and 1930,of which only the first was ever issued commercially. Accompanying thetranscription is an English translation with a detailed line-by-line commentaryto aid the literary historian and the literary critic. It provides the reader withmaterial as near as possible to the nineteenth-century recitals of izibongo, and thesound recording has been diagrammized to represent the way in which theimbongi recited the poem, thus animating the frozen izibongo as much as possible.But for a reader seeking ground-breaking research on izibongo, this book isa disappointment. There is a lack of rigorous analysis that such a subject nowrequires. For example, Rycroft and Ngcobo do not defend their definition of