The worthy friar concluded that the molten mass in the depths of the crater must be gold, or at least silver, in a state of fusion. He was then travelling toward Peru by order of his superiors, but kept his own counsel until two years later, when we hear of his journeying on foot from Mexico, a distance of more than four hundred leagues, intent on exploring the mysterious crater. He now took into his confidence a Franciscan friar, Juan de Gandabo, and the two agreed to impart the great secret to a few of the wealthier Spanish settlers, in order to obtain means for carrying out their project. Rumor was soon rife throughout the province. At Granada and Leon men assembled in the streets and plazas to discuss the matter. Some few conceded that Fray Blas was probably in the right. Others asserted with a credulous shrug that the molten mass consisted of iron or of sulphur, the latter theory being most in favor, from the fact that specimens of native sulphur were common in the vicinity. But while expounding, in the realms of the Atahualpas and the Montezumas, the doctrines of him who sent forth his disciples without purse or scrip, the ecclesiastic could never banish from his mind the conviction that providence had reserved this treasure for him and his fellow-laborers,[X‑21] and now after his long and toilsome journey, he was not to be turned aside from his purpose. The necessary implements were secretly prepared. Chains, pulleys, iron kettles, and other apparatus were made ready in a native village four leagues distant from the volcano. A huge derrick and a cage were manufactured by the friar's own hands at a safe distance from the Spanish settlements,[X‑22] and dragged up by natives to the mouth of the volcano. Guides were procured, and it was agreed that Fray Blas himself should first descend into the pit in order to avoid all dispute as to right of discovery. Should he return to the surface in safety, his comrades were to follow. Stipulations were made as to the division of the treasure, the friar claiming for himself the largest share, though contributing nothing to the expense.