Dr. Sparrman, a Swedish traveler into the country of the Hottentots and Caffres between the years 1772 and 1779, in speaking of the Mantis, called in his time the "Hottentot's God," denies the above statement of Mr. Kolben, and says the Hottentots are so far from worshiping it, that they several times caught some of them, and gave them to him to put needles through them, by way of preserving them, in the same manner as he did with the other insects. But there is, he adds, a diminutive species of this insect, which some think would be a crime, as well as very dangerous, to do any harm to, but that it was only a superstitious notion, and not any kind of religious worship.[262]
Dr. Thunberg, who traveled in South Africa about the same time as Dr. Sparrman, corroborates the latter's statement, and says he could see no reason for the supposition that the Hottentots worshiped the Mantis, but, he adds, it certainly was held in some degree of esteem, so that they would not willingly hurt, and deemed that person a creature fortunate on which it settled, though without paying it any sort of adoration.[263]
Dr. Vanderkemp, in his account of Caffraria, after describing the Mantis, says that the natives call it _oumtoanizoulou_, the _Child of Heaven_, and adds that "the Hottentots regard it as almost a deity, and offer their prayers to it, begging that it may not destroy them."[264]
Mr. Kirchener, speaking of the same people, says they reverence a little insect, known by the name of the _Creeping Leaf_, a sight of which they conceive indicates something fortunate, and to kill it they suppose will bring a curse upon the perpetrator.[265]
Mr. Evan Evans, a missionary to the Cape of Good Hope, gives an account of a conversation which he had with the Hottentot driver of his wagon, which seems to make out the claims of the Mantis to be the God of the Hottentots--as it is even yet called. The driver directed his attention to "a small insect," which he called by its above-mentioned familiar name, and alluded to the notions he had in former times connected with it. "I asked him, 'Did you ever worship this insect then?' He answered, 'Oh, yes! a thousand times; always before I came to Bethelsdorf. Whenever I saw this little creature, I would fall down on my knees before him and pray.' 'What did you pray to him for?' 'I asked him to give me a good master, and plenty of thick milk and flesh.' 'Did you pray for nothing else?' 'No, sir; I did not then know that I wanted anything else.... Whenever I used to see this animal (holding the insect still in his hand) I used sometimes to fall down immediately before it; but if it was in the wagon-road, or in a foot-path, I used to push it up as gently as I could, to place it behind a bush, for fear a wagon should crush it, or some men or beasts would put it to death. If a Hottentot, by some accident, killed or injured this creature, he was sure to be unlucky all his lifetime, and could never shoot an elephant or a buffalo afterward.'"[266]