Pizarro was contented with this
outward display of loyalty, and returned to his vessel well
satisfied with the entertainment he had received, and meditating,
it may be, on the best mode of repaying it, hereafter, by the
subjugation and conversion of the country.
The Spanish commander did not omit to touch also at Tumbez, on
his homeward voyage. Here some of his followers, won by the
comfortable aspect of the place and the manners of the people,
intimated a wish to remain, conceiving, no doubt, that it would
be better to live where they would be persons of consequence than
to return to an obscure condition in the community of Panama.
One of these men was Alonso de Molina, the same who had first
gone on shore at this place, and been captivated by the charms of
the Indian beauties. Pizarro complied with their wishes,
thinking it would not be amiss to find, on his return, some of
his own followers who would be instructed in the language and
usages of the natives. He was also allowed to carry back in his
vessel two or three Peruvians, for the similar purpose of
instructing them in the Castilian. One of them, a youth named by
the Spaniards Felipillo, plays a part of some importance in the
history of subsequent events.
On leaving Tumbez, the adventurers steered directly for Panama,
touching only, on their way, at the ill-fated island of Gorgona
to take on board their two companions who were left there too ill
to proceed with them. One had died, and, receiving the other,
Pizarro and his gallant little band continued their voyage; and,
after an absence of at least eighteen months, found themselves
once more safely riding at anchor in the harbour of Panama.
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