The resistance of these people to the power of Montezuma created several other rebellions which lasted during the remainder of his reign. In the year 1508, an expedition had been sent against Amatla, a distant region, and the Mexican army, in marching over a mountain, encountered a furious snow storm, in which great numbers perished, and on arriving at Amatla, the remainder were almost all slain. A comet appearing at this time, and the empire suffering under rebellion and other calamities, Montezuma, ever superstitious, was thrown into great alarm; the king of Acolhuacan, Nezahualpilli, who was accounted a learned soothsayer, presaged, that the comet portended a calamity that was about to befal the nation, by the arrival of some strangers. This he was unwilling to believe, and an astrologer, who verified the predictions of his brother king, was slain in his house, which was razed to the ground. There are many other things related of the foreknowledge the Mexicans had of the arrival of the Spaniards, these may be traced to two sources; the Spanish priests, who have invented most of them since, and to the following; the Spaniards at that time had become very formidable in the West India Islands; settlements had even been attempted on the southern continent, and their uncommon arms and appearance must have been the universal topic of conversation among the natives where they came; many of the savages on the islands had escaped, and it is hardly possible to think, that from the year 1492, when Columbus discovered the American islands, to 1508, the period we are now speaking of, that such a people as the Mexicans would not have heard of these formidable neighbours, and that they would not have formed some idea that it might soon be their turn to be attacked. They, however, went on for some years in the usual manner, and although always dreading the arrival of the unknown people, they continued their internal wars and human sacrifices. The stone, or altar, on which these unfortunate victims had been laid, was found too small, and the emperor ordered one of enormous dimensions to replace it; this was dragged by a multitude of people towards the temple, and in going over a bridge, broke the structure and precipitated the high priest and his attendants into the lake. It was, however, got out by immense labour, and, it is said, upwards of 12,000 victims were sacrificed on it. This was the period when Mexican splendour was at its height, and Montezuma on the pinnacle of his glory. The Spaniards having well settled themselves in the great islands of Cuba and Hispaniola, turned their attention to explore the continent towards the west. Vasco Nuñez de Balboa first landed on the coast, and from the mountains descried the Pacific; this was, however, near the Isthmus, in the year 1513.