Pánfilo de Narváez (1478–1528) was a Spanish conquistador and explorer. He is remembered as the leader of the disastrous Narváez expedition to Florida in 1527. Sailing from Cuba, Narváez had hoped to find gold-rich civilizations akin to the Aztec Empire. However, his expedition soon met conflict with the Native Americans in the interior. Narváez ordered rafts be built so that the expedition could return to the sea. Instead, a storm wiped out the ships, and most of the expedition, including Narváez, who drowned when his raft sank. The survivors, some 86, set across Mexico on foot. Only four survived, arriving in Culiacán eight years later.
Pánfilo de Narváez was long dead by the time Estevánico found his magic eyewear. Estevánico privately cursed Narváez often as he and the survivors of the expedition crossed Mexico. When Esperanza/Amal told Estevánico about the Inca Empire, Estevánico was bitterly amused by the fact that Narváez had headed north when he should have gone south.
