FRANCISCO PIZARRO 159 cided so dramatically the fortunes of Pizarro and the fate of Peru. Tafur had brought supplies of provisions to the famished and emaciated, but now jubilant soldiers ; and all except Pizarro appeared eager to abandon their barren adven- ture and return in the ships. Pizarro alone refused obedience to the governor's agent. Drawing a line on the sand with his sword, he cried : " Comrades ! on that side lie hunger and hardship ; on this side, ease and safety. There lies Peru with its rteties ; here, Panama and poverty. Choose, every man for himself, like brave Castilians. For me, I go to the south." He stepped across the line. There was a minute of dismay and silence. Then Ruiz followed, and after him twelve others went over, an act of as desperate and resolute courage as ever inspired a forlorn band. They saw the ships containing their comrades sail away without them ; Ruiz also returned, pledged to bring assistance to his companions left behind ; while Pizarro remained with his twelve Spaniards, and three or four Indian captives whom he had made friends, on the desolate island. Not even a ship was left them, and they had to build a raft to convey them to a less inhospitable island, that of Gorgona, farther north. There they lived seven months, subsisting on small game brought down by their crossbows, and shell-fish found on the shores, until Ruiz, after weary delays, returned in a small vessel, bringing supplies, but not the expected reinforcement of troops. In this frail craft the dauntless rovers put to sea. Pizarro pursued his explor- ations southward, beyond the point where he afterward founded Truxillo, named after his native town ; visited several Peruvian ports, and learned much of the country he proposed to subjugate. He then returned to Panama, which he reached after an absence of eighteen months. The reappearance of the little group of wanderers bringing news of their discoveries, was the cause of great astonishment in the colony, and of joyful enthusiasm among their friends, who had long given them up for dead. The governor, however, resenting Pizarro's disobedience of his orders at the isle of Gallo, refused to sanction another expedition ; and Pizarro resolved upon the bold course of returning to Spain and appealing to the Crown. This was in the spring of 1528. Arriving at Seville, he was immediately thrown into prison for a debt in- curred at Darien. But he was released by order of the emperor, Charles V., who received him graciously at Toledo, heard the wondrous story of his wan- derings, which Pizarro knew how to tell, and saw the vessels of gold and silver, the fine fabrics, the llamas, and other evidences of the Peruvian civilization, which were displayed before his royal eyes. He was also, no doubt influenced by the recent achievements of Cortes, who was then at court, and who perhaps spoke for his kinsman a friendly word. The monarch turned over Pizarro and his enterprise, with his recommenda- tion, to the Council of the Indies. Yet a year passed, and nothing was done. Pizarro was fast sinking into obscurity, and he would likewise have sunk into despair, if he had been less stout of heart. Then, as Queen Isabella had aided
