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Les Comores by Herve Chagnoux; Ali HaribuReview by: Mari BorstelmannThe International Journal of African Historical Studies, Vol. 16, No. 2 (1983), pp. 355-356Published by: Boston University African Studies CenterStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/217830 .

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BOOK REVIEWS 355 BOOK REVIEWS 355

A HUNTER'S LIFE IN SOUTH AFRICA. By RosaZeyn Gordon Cumming; intro- duction by James A. Casada. Bulawayo: Books of Zimbabwe, 1980. Reprint of the 1850 ed. 2 vols. Pp. 388, 381.

Gordon Cumming was a Scot who spent five years, beginning in 1843, hunting in South Africa. During that time he travelled from Grahams- town to as far north as the Limpopo, passing through land inhabited by Griqua, Boers, Ngwato, Koena (Kwena) and Tlhaping, among others. He met Robert Moffat, David Livingstone, Sechele of the Koena, Sekgoma of the Ngwato, and Mahura of the Tlhaping. He has, unfortu- nately, little of substance to say about the peoples and individuals he met. Gordon Cumming is most concerned to retell, in gory detail, stories of his slaughter of innocent animals and of his own feats of daring. He proudly reveals that he killed one hundred and five "select" elephants and returned to England with thirty tons of "trophies."

Thus the value of this source is, at best, marginal for histor- ians, and one wonders why it was reprinted. Scholars interested in the effects of diseases may find something useful; Gordon Cumming reports on several in some detail. (It is revealing that he persist- ed on several occasions in entering tsetse fly country despite warn- ings of local Africans; his oxen were invariably devastated.) And there are some data on prices of certain commodities. But there is little else. Professor Casada's introduction does not add much to the narrative. Especially annoying is his apparently uncritical use of the word "Kaffir" to describe Xhosa and related peoples. This book is the first of something called the "African Hunting Reprint Series," of which eleven more works are promised. We might hope that they will be more useful than this one.

R. L. WATSON North Carolina WesZeyan College

LES COMORES. By Herve Chagnoux and AZi Haribu ? Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1980. Pp. 128. 13 francs, paper.

For those unfamiliar with a longstanding French tradition, the Que sais-je? paperbacks are elaborate encyclopedia articles with appeal to the general reader. Thus Les Comores is number 1829 of the series which includes such sweeping titles as Le Monde depuis 1945 (#1865) and La Civilisation europeenna 1l872). This is not the genre of book ordinarily reviewed in an academic journal, but with so few pub- lished monographs providing even a cursory overview of the archipel- ago, Les Comoresdeserves attention.

The book makes no pretense at analysis; that is not the purpose of the series. It is most useful as a reference for statistics and the seven chapters hold something for everyone: flora and fauna, geology, climate, history, ethnography, agriculture, industry and politics. The final seventy-six pages (four chapters) are by far the best documented portion of Les Comores, presenting the political and economic scenario since World War II with emphasis on the years since the July 1975 UDI. For those whose interests span Indian Ocean

A HUNTER'S LIFE IN SOUTH AFRICA. By RosaZeyn Gordon Cumming; intro- duction by James A. Casada. Bulawayo: Books of Zimbabwe, 1980. Reprint of the 1850 ed. 2 vols. Pp. 388, 381.

Gordon Cumming was a Scot who spent five years, beginning in 1843, hunting in South Africa. During that time he travelled from Grahams- town to as far north as the Limpopo, passing through land inhabited by Griqua, Boers, Ngwato, Koena (Kwena) and Tlhaping, among others. He met Robert Moffat, David Livingstone, Sechele of the Koena, Sekgoma of the Ngwato, and Mahura of the Tlhaping. He has, unfortu- nately, little of substance to say about the peoples and individuals he met. Gordon Cumming is most concerned to retell, in gory detail, stories of his slaughter of innocent animals and of his own feats of daring. He proudly reveals that he killed one hundred and five "select" elephants and returned to England with thirty tons of "trophies."

Thus the value of this source is, at best, marginal for histor- ians, and one wonders why it was reprinted. Scholars interested in the effects of diseases may find something useful; Gordon Cumming reports on several in some detail. (It is revealing that he persist- ed on several occasions in entering tsetse fly country despite warn- ings of local Africans; his oxen were invariably devastated.) And there are some data on prices of certain commodities. But there is little else. Professor Casada's introduction does not add much to the narrative. Especially annoying is his apparently uncritical use of the word "Kaffir" to describe Xhosa and related peoples. This book is the first of something called the "African Hunting Reprint Series," of which eleven more works are promised. We might hope that they will be more useful than this one.

R. L. WATSON North Carolina WesZeyan College

LES COMORES. By Herve Chagnoux and AZi Haribu ? Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1980. Pp. 128. 13 francs, paper.

For those unfamiliar with a longstanding French tradition, the Que sais-je? paperbacks are elaborate encyclopedia articles with appeal to the general reader. Thus Les Comores is number 1829 of the series which includes such sweeping titles as Le Monde depuis 1945 (#1865) and La Civilisation europeenna 1l872). This is not the genre of book ordinarily reviewed in an academic journal, but with so few pub- lished monographs providing even a cursory overview of the archipel- ago, Les Comoresdeserves attention.

The book makes no pretense at analysis; that is not the purpose of the series. It is most useful as a reference for statistics and the seven chapters hold something for everyone: flora and fauna, geology, climate, history, ethnography, agriculture, industry and politics. The final seventy-six pages (four chapters) are by far the best documented portion of Les Comores, presenting the political and economic scenario since World War II with emphasis on the years since the July 1975 UDI. For those whose interests span Indian Ocean

This content downloaded from 194.29.185.93 on Fri, 9 May 2014 17:16:22 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

356 BOOK REVIEWS 356 BOOK REVIEWS

politics, development economics and French involvement in African internal affairs this section provides a comprehensive, readable account of the struggle for Mayotte and discusses the evolution of the archipelago's current state of economic chaos. These are the book's strong points, and they reflect the training of Chagnoux and Haribou who are, respectively, Diplo6m de l'Institut d'etudes poli- tiques de Paris and Ingenieur d'Agronomie tropicale, Nogent-sur- Marne.

The first half of Les Comores is less satisfying than the later chapters, however. Historians will be particularly disappointed in the brief treatment given both the precolonial period and the years between 1841 and World War II. There is nothing new here and the material lacks the synthesis found in the sescond half of the book. There are methodological problems as well. While it is certainly true that sources for Comoran history before 1945 are scarce, the authors present myths as unqualified documentation of migration and early settlement. And one wonders what purpose is served by refer- ring to Mohelians as "ferocious" (p. 20) or non-Islamic religious ceremonies as "primitive" (p. 49).

Still, for anyone with more than a casual interest in the Indian Ocean Les Comores should not be overlooked. The authors have collec- ted details of contemporary issues from sources difficult to obtain outside France or the archipelago itself. Moreover, the book is generally useful as a source of ideas for comparative research with the East African and Mozambique coasts especially in such areas as music, religion, dance (lelemama) and language. Les Comores often frustrates because it oversimplifies, but it can also inspire. We want to know more.

MARI BORSTELMANN Boston University

TRADITION AND CHANGE IN ETHIOPIA. SOCIAL AND CULTURAL LIFE AS REFLECTED IN AMHARIC FICTIONAL LITERATURE ca. 1930-1974. By Reidulf Knut Molvaer. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1980. Pp. xi, 268. 84 guilders.

A bare half-dozen novels and plays by Ethiopian authors have appear- ed in English in the African authors' series. Yet the social preoc- cupations of which they give a glimpse suggest the extent of social documentation to be found in Amharic prose literature about the Ethiopian ancien regime. By the time that revolution overtook it in 1974, Ethiopian society had been little served by sociologists, and few anthropologists had worked in any but outlying areas among minorities. Happily the Amharic novel eschewed the fantastical set- tings and Sinbad-like development of its 1908 prototype for realism: "the general, the typical, people and experiences readers can iden- tify with" (p. ix). An unrivalled guide to the plot, characters and episodes of twentieth-century Amharic fiction became available when Thomas L. Kane published his 1971 UCLA thesis, Ethiopian Literature in Amharic (Wiesbaden, 1975). To this indispensable work of refer- ence, an excellent companion has now been added, thanks to the pub- lication of Molvaer's London dissertation.

politics, development economics and French involvement in African internal affairs this section provides a comprehensive, readable account of the struggle for Mayotte and discusses the evolution of the archipelago's current state of economic chaos. These are the book's strong points, and they reflect the training of Chagnoux and Haribou who are, respectively, Diplo6m de l'Institut d'etudes poli- tiques de Paris and Ingenieur d'Agronomie tropicale, Nogent-sur- Marne.

The first half of Les Comores is less satisfying than the later chapters, however. Historians will be particularly disappointed in the brief treatment given both the precolonial period and the years between 1841 and World War II. There is nothing new here and the material lacks the synthesis found in the sescond half of the book. There are methodological problems as well. While it is certainly true that sources for Comoran history before 1945 are scarce, the authors present myths as unqualified documentation of migration and early settlement. And one wonders what purpose is served by refer- ring to Mohelians as "ferocious" (p. 20) or non-Islamic religious ceremonies as "primitive" (p. 49).

Still, for anyone with more than a casual interest in the Indian Ocean Les Comores should not be overlooked. The authors have collec- ted details of contemporary issues from sources difficult to obtain outside France or the archipelago itself. Moreover, the book is generally useful as a source of ideas for comparative research with the East African and Mozambique coasts especially in such areas as music, religion, dance (lelemama) and language. Les Comores often frustrates because it oversimplifies, but it can also inspire. We want to know more.

MARI BORSTELMANN Boston University

TRADITION AND CHANGE IN ETHIOPIA. SOCIAL AND CULTURAL LIFE AS REFLECTED IN AMHARIC FICTIONAL LITERATURE ca. 1930-1974. By Reidulf Knut Molvaer. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1980. Pp. xi, 268. 84 guilders.

A bare half-dozen novels and plays by Ethiopian authors have appear- ed in English in the African authors' series. Yet the social preoc- cupations of which they give a glimpse suggest the extent of social documentation to be found in Amharic prose literature about the Ethiopian ancien regime. By the time that revolution overtook it in 1974, Ethiopian society had been little served by sociologists, and few anthropologists had worked in any but outlying areas among minorities. Happily the Amharic novel eschewed the fantastical set- tings and Sinbad-like development of its 1908 prototype for realism: "the general, the typical, people and experiences readers can iden- tify with" (p. ix). An unrivalled guide to the plot, characters and episodes of twentieth-century Amharic fiction became available when Thomas L. Kane published his 1971 UCLA thesis, Ethiopian Literature in Amharic (Wiesbaden, 1975). To this indispensable work of refer- ence, an excellent companion has now been added, thanks to the pub- lication of Molvaer's London dissertation.

This content downloaded from 194.29.185.93 on Fri, 9 May 2014 17:16:22 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions