Knowing that success depended on promptness of action, the rebel leaders determined to embark immediately for Tierra Firme, and at once arranged their plan of operations. From certain exiles recently arrived from Peru it was ascertained that the licentiate Gasca was then on his way to Spain with a large amount of treasure. To seize it was to be their first endeavor. If this were successful Gasca and the governor of Panamá were to be put to death. An army of at least six hundred men was to be levied at the Isthmus. Ships were to be fitted out and a squadron despatched to cruise off the coasts of Nicaragua and Guatemala and destroy all the vessels they could capture. The settlers who were unfit for military service were to be plundered of their goods and sent, together with all the women and children, to Cartagena. Panamá, Nombre de Dios, and Natá were then to be burned to the ground. The cattle were to be killed and the crops destroyed, so that if an army should be sent against them from Spain there should be found neither means of subsistence nor ships for transport. The expedition was then to sail for Peru, where Hernando was to be proclaimed king; and Spain was thus to lose the richest portion of her dominions in the New World.[XVI‑4] Soon after the conspirators had taken their departure from Granada, the alcaldes ordered a bark to be built with the intention of sending news of the threatened invasion to Nombre de Dios; but alarmed by the threats of Doña María, who declared that her sons had information of their purpose, and were even now returning to destroy the city, they requested her to assure them that no tidings of the revolt should be sent to Castilla del Oro. Meanwhile the revolutionists, having completed their preparations, set sail from Nicoya for Punta de Higuera, in the district of Natá. * * * * * [Sidenote: ENTRANCE INTO PANAMÁ.]