PIZARRO REACHES PERU. 471 
But the new governor of Panama, Pedro de los Rios, inter- 
dicted all further volunteering for an enterprise he considered 
chimerical, and even sent a vessel to the island of Gallo to bring 
back Pizarro and his companions. The associates, on the other 
hand, were less inclined than ever to give up their enterprise, 
now that better prospects had opened, so that Pizarro peremp- 
torily refused to obey the governor’s commands, and used all his 
eloquence in persuading his men not to abandon him. But the 
hardships they had endured, and the prospect of soon revisiting 
their families and friends, pleaded so strongly against him, that 
when he drew a line with his sword upon the sand, and told 
those that wished to leave him to pass over it, only thirteen of 
his veterans remained true to his fortunes. 
With this select band of heroes Pizarro now retired to the 
desert island of Gorgona, where, as it Jay further from the 
coast, he could await with greater security the reinforcements 
which he trusted the zeal of his associates would scon be able to 
procure. Nor was he deceived, for Almagro and Luque, by 
their repeated solicitations, at length prevailed upon the governor 
to send out a small vessel to his assistance, though without one 
Jandsman on board, that he might not be encouraged to any 
new enterprise. Meanwhile Pizarro and his faithful thirteen” 
had spent five long months on their wretched island, their eyes 
constantly turned to the north, until, heart-sick and despairing 
from hope deferred, they resolved to intrust themselves to the 
inconstant waves upon a miserable raft, rather than remain any 
longer in that dreadful wilderness. But now at last the vessel 
from Panama appeared, and raised them so thoroughly from the 
deepest despondency to the most extravagant hopes, that Pizarro 
easily induced not only his old friends, but also the crew of the 
vessel, to sail farther to the south instead of returning at once 
to Panama. 
This time the winds were favourable, and after a voyage of 
twenty days they at length reached the town of Tumbez on the 
coast of Peru, where the magnificent temple of the sun and the 
palace of the Incas, with its costly golden vases, exceeded their 
most sanguine expectations. But once more Pizarro, too weak 
to attempt invasion, was obliged to content himself with the 
view of the riches he one day hoped to possess, and returned to 
Panama after an absence of three years. 
