PIZARRO REACHES PERU. 471 



But the new governor of Panama, Pedro de los Kios, 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 Grorgona, where, as it lay further from the 

 coast, he could await with greater security the reinforcements 

 which he trusted the zeal of his associates would soon 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 

 landsman 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. 



