The Commentary of Father Monserrate 2.4.2

2.4.2

But if some unfortunate man, who in ignorance of his danger is doing something else, is seen by the Regulus (which like other creatures of this class is very proud of its own beauty) some little time before he sees it, then he is bound to perish miserably, at least so the inhabitants of that region stoutly declare. One of the Fathers unwittingly ran a risk of perishing in this way; for seeing the little creature, and being attracted by its beauty, he tried to catch it and followed it till the Regulus hid itself in a thicket. When he returned to his quarters and asked the inhabitants of that place what sort of lizard it was that he had seen, they were no less surprised at his having escaped the glance of the Regulus than were the inhabitants of Malta at Saint Paul's remaining unharmed by the bite of the snake. This creature is roughly the size of a dormouse, and resembles the lizard called 'chamaeleon' which feeds on air and disguises itself with the colour of whatever object is nearest. Many of the inferior classes in this town live in small round huts. Indeed nowhere else in that region are such miserable hovels to be seen. They live by agriculture, though the land which can be worked is scanty and poor. Their fields are everywhere surrounded by rocky hills, from which I suppose come the swarms of noxious beasts, and especially of scorpions.