Note 22 — OF THE RELIGIOUS BELIEFS OF THE INDIANS OF YUCATAN IN 1545

Hischen is Ix-Chel, the consort of Itzamna. Brinton states that the word means "rainbow," and that the goddess was also known as Ix Kan Leom, "the spider-web" which catches the dew of the morning. Her children, according to Brinton, the Bacabs or Chacs were "four mighty brethren, who were the gods of the four cardinal points, of the winds which blow from them, of the rains these bring, of the thunder and the lightning, and consequently of agriculture, the harvests, and food supply. Their position in the ritual was of the first importance. To each were assigned a particular color and a certain year and day in the calendar."