longer they again moved to the northward. Their early history was one of frequent wars; and as the Lord used the Lamanites as thorns in their sides when they turned from Him, we judge for this reason, and that they were found so far north in the days of Amaleki and Mosiah, that the savage descendants of Laman had frequently defeated them and driven them farther and farther away from the land of their first possession.
The inquiry will naturally arise, as a result of these suggestions: In what portion of the South American continent lay the home of the Nephites in the days of Mosiah? This cannot be answered authoritatively. We are nowhere told its exact situation. Still, there are many references in the Book of Mormon from which we can judge, to some extent, of its location. Apostle Orson Pratt suggested that it was in the country we now call Ecuador.
We believe that the lands occupied by the Nephites before they went down into the land of Zarahemla were situated among the table-lands or high valleys of the Andes, much as Utah is located in the bosom of the Rocky Mountains and parallel chains. For these reasons:
First — They were lands rich in minerals, which all through the American continents are found most abundantly in mountainous regions.
Secondly, the climate of the torrid low lands, almost directly under the equator, would be intolerable for its heat, and deadly in its humidity; while the country in the high valleys and tablelands would be excellently adapted to human life, especially (we may presume) before the great upheavals and convulsions that marked the death of the Redeemer.
It is also probable that in their journeys the Nephites would follow the most available route, rather than plunge into the dense, untrodden, primeval forests of the wilderness; the home of
