The New Student's Reference Work/Narvaez, Pánfilo de

Narvaez (när-vä′ ā́th), Pánfilo de, adventurer and soldier, was born at  about 1478. He was the principal lieutenant of in his conquest of, and was sent by him at the head of a force of 900 men to conquer and supersede  in. He landed at in April, 1520, and on May 28 was surprised and taken prisoner by his abler and more active fellow-countryman. He was well-treated, however, by Cortez and soon released. He returned to Spain, and in 1526 obtained from a grant of  over which he was made governor. He sailed the following year with five ships and about 600 men, and landed probably near in April, 1528. He marched inland, but, after losing half his men in encounters with the, was obliged to return to the coast. Unable to find his ships, he built some rude boats in which the much reduced company sailed for Mexico in September, 1528. The vessel which carried Narvaez was driven to sea by a storm and he and his men perished near the mouth of the, except Cabeza de Vaca, his lieutenant, and three men, who reached land and made their way across to the , reaching Mexico only after years of wandering.