Mixcoatl has already been alluded to in the précis of the early chapters of the Historia de los Mexicanos por sus Pinturas given in the chapter on Cosmogony, where the circumstances of his birth are touched upon. In chapter x of the same work he is identified with Amimitl, another Chichimec deity, seemingly without reason. The Anales de Quauhtitlan speaks of him as one of the three who “sought the hearth-stone,” and as one of the priests of the Fire-god. As Iztac Mixcoatl, according to Motolinia, [317] he dwelt with his wife, Ilancuêyê, in Chicomoztoc, the “Land of the Seven Caves,” the primeval land of the tribes, and from them sprang the forefathers of the natives. By a second wife, Chimamatl, he begot the god Quetzalcoatl. In the Tlaxcaltec legend reproduced in the Historia de los Mexicanos por sus Pinturas, [318] mention is made of a two-headed deer which fell from heaven and was honoured as a god by the people of Cuitlauac, and it is told how, clothed in its form or disguise, Camaxtli or Mixcoatl subdued the surrounding tribes. Iztac Mixcoatl was, indeed, the Chichimec Adam, the father of the tribe. A hymn to the gods of the hunt, of whom Mixcoatl was the chief, is as follows: SONG OF THE CLOUD-SERPENTS I Out of the seven Caverns he sprung (was born). II Out of the land of the prickly plant he sprung. III I came down (was born) I came down With my spear made of the prickly plant I came down I came down With my spear of the prickly plant. IV I came down I came down With my net bag. I seize him I seize him And I seize him, and he is seized. FESTIVAL The great festival of Mixcoatl was the hunt-drive in the month quecholli. Sahagun says of this observance [319]: “Quecholli was the name of the fourteenth month, Mixcoatl being honoured with festivals. Arrows and darts for use in war were made, and many slaves were slaughtered in honour of this god. During the five days spent in making the arrows, everyone slit their ears and rubbed their temples with the blood thus drawn. Penance was supposed to be thus performed before the deer-hunting commenced. Those who did not slit themselves were deprived of their cloaks as tribute. During these days no man cohabited with his wife, and the aged abstained from the use of pulque, as penance was being performed. The four days employed in the making of arrows and darts being ended, smaller arrows were made and tied in bundles of four to which were added four pine torches. These were placed as offerings upon the graves of the dead, besides two tamalli to each bundle. These remained for a day upon the tombs and were then burned during the night, other ceremonies being held as well in honour of the dead.