On the 13th of April 1538,[X‑23] the ecclesiastic and his comrades rise betimes, and after confessing their sins, attending mass, and partaking of a substantial breakfast they climb the steep mountain side and stand on the verge of the crater. Grasping in his left hand a flask of wine, in his right a crucifix, and gathering up the skirts of his priestly robe, his head protected by an iron cask, the daring friar takes his seat in the cage, is suspended in mid-air, and slowly lowered into the burning pit. The natives who are present flee in terror, having no faith in his assertion that the evil genius of the fiery lake will vanish at the sight of the cross. As he lands on the floor of the crater a fragment of falling rock strikes his helmet, causing him to drop on his knees and plant his cross with trembling fingers in the haunted ground. Turning his eyes upward, after much groping and stumbling among shelves of rock, he beholds the cage in which he had descended swinging far overhead. Nevertheless his heart fails not. Catching the guide-rope he drags up his portly person to a spot from which he can give the appointed signal, and at length is brought unharmed to the surface. [Illustration: NICARAGUA.] A few days later another attempt is made, and after much difficulty a small quantity of the molten treasure is brought to the surface in an iron mortar. Reports of the great discovery spread through the neighboring settlements. Hundreds of eager spectators gather round the crater, but the adventurers keep their counsel. They take formal possession of the ground, move their machinery that none may share the imaginary prize, and for a time imagine themselves possessed of wealth which a thousand ships cannot carry. * * * * * [Sidenote: EXPLORATION OF THE DESAGUADERO.] Soon after the departure of the Dominicans, Contreras resolved to carry out the exploration of the Desaguadero. Captain Diego Machuca,[X‑24] a veteran officer and one whose humane disposition gave assurance that the inhabitants of the native towns would not be maltreated, was placed in charge of the expedition. Two ships were fitted out on Lake Nicaragua and a force of two hundred men followed by land. The dangers encountered[X‑25] during the voyage are not recorded by the chroniclers of the age; but we learn that the vessels were borne in safety down the stream, passed thence to the North Sea, and sailed for Nombre de Dios.