PANFILO DE

NARVAEZ (c. 148o-1528)  , Spanish adventurer, was an hidalgo of Castile, born at Valladolid about 1480 . He was one of the subordinates of Velazquez in the reduction of Cuba, and, after having held various posts under his governor-ship, was put at the head of the force sent to the Aztec coast to compel Cortes to renounce his command; he was surprised and defeated, however, by his abler and more active compatriot at Cempoalla, and made prisoner with the loss of an eye (1520) . After his return to Spain he obtained from Charles V. a grant of Florida as far as the River of Palms; sailing in 1527 with five ships and a force of about 600 men, he landed, probably near Pensacola Bay, in April 1528, and, striking inland with some 300 of his followers, reached " Apalache " on June 25 . The prospects of fabulous wealth which had sustained them in their difficult and perilous journey having proved illusory a return to the coast was determined, and the Bahia de los Caballos, at or near St Mark's, was reached in the following month . Having built rude boats, the much-reduced company sailed hence for Mexico on September 22, but the vessel which carried Narvaez was driven to sea in a storm and perished . His lieutenant, Cabeza de Vaca, with three others who ultimately reached land, made his way across Texas to the Gulf of California . (See FLORIDA.) See Prescott, Conquest of Mexico; H . H . Bancroft, Mexico (1882—189o) ; and the Naufragio of Alvaro Nunez Cabeza de Vaca in the Biblioteca of Rivadeneyra, xxii .