chief, on finding himself stricken by the dread disease, had expressed a wish to become a Christian, and with the name of Lorenzo had received baptism at the hands of Olmedo, who joyfully hastened to Tlascala to perform so welcome a service for the Spaniards’ champion. He died exhorting his family and friends to obey Cortés and his brethren, the destined rulers of the land, and to accept their god, who had given victory over the idols.24 It was fortunate that he did not die before Spanish prestige had been reëstablished by the Tepeaca campaign; for his friendship sufficed to confirm the allies in their adhesion, to gain for the Spaniards further coöperation, and to obtain for them a firm footing in the country.
The allied forces had become so numerous by the time Itzucan fell that they were absolutely unmanageable, and on returning from this place to Tepeaca Cortés dismissed them with friendly words to their homes, retaining only the tried Tlascaltecs, who had become efficient in the European style of warfare under the Spanish discipline and tactics.25