Travelers' Descriptions of Land Once Occupied by Nephites--Cradle of
an Imperial Race--The Productions of the Land in Modern Times Agree
with Description of Same in Book of Mormon--Rapid Recovery from
Effects of Disastrous Commotions and Wars Accounted for--Healthy
Climate--Remarkable Longevity--Jacob, Enos, Jarom and Omni--Longevity
of Indians in Ecuador and Peru.
A traveler by the name of Markham, (_Jour. of English Geog. Soc. Vol.
xli., 1871, pp. 285, 286_.) in speaking of the country between the
northern line of Chili and the southern line of Ecuador--the country
which we think was called the land of Nephi, and in some portion of
which Nephi settled with his people when he fled from his
brethren--says:
"This vast tract comprises every variety of climate, and contains
within its limits most prolific tropical forests, valleys with the
climate of Italy, a coast region resembling Sinde or Egypt, temperate
hillsides or plateaux, bleak and chilling pasture lands, and lofty
peaks and ridges within the limits of eternal snows. On one mountain
side the eye may embrace, at a single glance, sugar cane and bananas
under cultivation in the lowest zone, waving fields of Indian corn a
little higher up, shaded by tall trees, orchards of tropical fruits,
stretches of wheat and barley, steep slopes, covered with potatoes and
quinoa, bleak pastures where llamas and alpacas are browsing, and
rocky pinnacles streaked with snow."
Such a country, with such a variety of climates and products, was well
adapted for the cradle of an imperial race as the Nephites proved to
be. The mighty obstacles of nature, which some portions of that
country presented, were such as to tax their ingenuity to the utmost.
But Humboldt has well observed that,
"When enterprising races inhabit a land where the form of the ground
presents to them difficulties on a grand scale which they may conquer
and overcome, the contest with nature becomes a means of increasing
their strength and power as well as their courage."
Stevenson, in his _Twenty Years in South America_, says, in speaking
of one of the provinces of this region:
"The various climates, assisted by the various localities of the soil,
would produce all the necessaries and all the luxuries of life; for in
the small compass of fifty leagues, a traveler experiences the almost
unbearable heat of the torrid zone, the mild climates of the
temperate, and the freezing cold of the polar regions."
The cities of Lehi-Nephi and Shilom, which Zeniff calls "the land of
our fathers," were, doubtless, delightfully situated and possessed
every advantage of climate and soil. This appears evident from the
anxiety of some of the children of those whom Mosiah, by the command
of the Lord, led away from that land through the wilderness to
Zarahemla, to go back there and live. Modern travelers speak in
language of the highest praise of the region in some part of which we
suppose those cities stood. Spruce, an English traveler, (_Jour. of
English Geog. Soc., Vol. xxxi., 1861, p. 175_) says, in speaking of
the plains in Ecuador:
"A journey of four hours will place the traveler in the region of
eternal frost, or, in the space of half a day, he can descend the deep
and sultry valleys that separate the mighty chain of the Andes; or,
finally, he may visit the tropical forest extending to the shores of
the Pacific. This variation of temperature, dependent on elevation,
and occurring within narrow limits, furnishes a daily and diversified
supply of vegetable food: from the plantain, which as a substitute for
bread, is largely consumed by the inhabitants of the coast, to the
wheat, potato and other grains and roots, growing luxuriantly on the
cool tablelands of the interior. Besides these, the market is
furnished with pine-apples, chirunoyas (_anour chirunoya_) guayavas
(_pridium promiferum_) guavas (_ingapachycarpa_), the fruits of
different species of passionflower, oranges and lemons; and, from
January to April, certain European fruits, such as apples, pears,
quinces, peaches, apricots and strawberries."
Stevenson says of a part of this region which he visited:
"These valleys are principally under cultivation, and bless the
husbandman with a continued succession of crops; for the uninterrupted
sameness of the climate in any spot is such as to preclude the plant
as well as the fruit from being damaged by sudden changes in the
temperature of the atmosphere, changes which are in other countries so
detrimental to the health of the vegetable world. The fertility of
some of these valleys exceeds all credibility, and the veracity of the
description would be doubted, did not the knowledge of their
localities and the universal description of the equability and
benignity of these climates ensure the probability. An European is
astonished on his first arrival here to see the plough and the sickle,
the sower and the thrashing-floor, at the same time in equal
requisition: to see at one step an herb fading through age, and at the
next, one of the same kind springing up--one flower decayed and
drooping and its sisters unfolding their beauties to the sun--some
fruits inviting the hand to pluck them, and others in succession
beginning to show their ripeness--others can scarcely be distinguished
from the color of the leaves which shade them, while the opening
blossoms, insure a continuation. Nothing can be more beautiful than to
stand on an eminence and observe the different gradations of the
vegetable world, from the half unfolded blade just springing from the
earth, to the ripe harvest yellowing in the sun and gently waving in
the breeze. An enumeration of the different vegetable productions of
this province would be useless; it will be sufficient to observe, that
grain, pulse, fruits, esculents and horticultural vegetables are
produced in the greatest abundance and of an excellent quality, as
well as all kinds of flesh meat and poultry."
Another traveler, Hassaurek, who resided four years in that country as
United States minister, gives us an equally enchanting description of
portions of Ecuador which he visited. Speaking of the country around
Cotodachi and Hatuntaqui, he says, it "is chiefly a grain region.
Indian-corn, barley, wheat, and potatoes grow in unlimited abundance.
All the grains and fruits of the temperate zone could be introduced
here. In the gardens and orchards, the peach, the fig-tree and the
wild grape grow by the side of the chirimoya, the aquacate, and the
raspberry. The climate is delightful. It is the same all the year
round; no torrid season enervates the inhabitants of this favored
realm; no icy winter sends him shivering to the chimney fire. In fact,
stoves and chimneys are unknown; and to know what heat is, one would
have to descend to the sultry valley of the Chota, where the negro
hums his merry tunes among coffee and plantain trees and the sugar
cane. There is no starvation in this neighborhood; nobody dies from
cold; nobody sinks sunstruck to the ground; no troublesome insects
molest the inhabitants; epidemics are unknown; healthy faces peep at
you through the long hedges of aloes; healthy faces stare at you from
every Indian cottage. It is not sickness, it is foreign war and
internecine strife and perpetual convulsions, that decimate the
population and scatter death and decay where wealth and bliss should
smile.
"The golden harvests spring; the unfailing sun Sheds light and life;
the fruits, the flowers, the trees, Arise in due succession; all
things speak Peace, and harmony, and love. The universe, In Nature's
silent eloquence, declares That all fulfill the works of love and joy.
All but the outcast man! He fabricates The sword which stabs his
peace; he cherisheth The snakes that gnaw his heart."
The description of Ecuador, its climate and its productions, by modern
travelers agrees with that which is said in the Book of Mormon
concerning the lands of Lehi-Nephi and of Shilom, which Zeniff and his
company entered into treaty with the king of the Lamanites to
re-possess. They raised all manner of seeds--corn, wheat, barley, neas
and sheum--and all kinds of fruits. From this brief description by
Zeniff of the productions of the land we can gather a very correct
idea of the character of the climate and the soil. The climate was not
too hot for wheat and barley, nor too cool for all kinds of fruits; in
fact if not exactly the same land as that visited by the modern
travelers from whom we quote, it was a land resembling it in climate
and productions. Zeniff also says, they multiplied and prospered in
the land. In such a healthy country as Hassaurek describes, they would
multiply: in such a fruitful country, they would prosper.
There is one noticeable feature in the record of the Nephites which
strikes one who has lived only in our northern climate and zone: it is
the rapidity with which they recovered from the disastrous effects of
civil and religious commotions and bloody wars. The frequent allusions
through the record to the wonderfully rapid prosperity which followed
the cessation of strife is apt to strike the northern reader with
surprise. But, when we become familiar with the character of the lands
occupied by the Nephites, this surprise ceases. That which was known
as the land of Nephi, comprehending an immense district of country,
was so favored in climate and soil, was so abundantly blessed in all
vegetables and minerals, and was generally so healthy that an
industrious people like the Nephites would surround themselves with
every comfort and luxury in, what would appear to the inhabitants of
less favored localities, an incredibly short space of time.
The land settled by Nephi and his company had, without doubt, a
healthy climate. We are not informed as to the age of Nephi or his
brothers or their immediate descendants at their demise. But from the
dates which are given, it is very evident they lived to a great age.
Correct habits of living, with pure lives and the blessing of God upon
them, promoted longevity. We think it is apparent from the record
that, immediately after leaving Jerusalem, there was a remarkable
increase in the duration of life among those who were called Nephites.
Jacob, who was born in the wilderness of Arabia, took charge of the
plates after the death of his brother Nephi, and he bequeathed them to
his son Enos. The year in which he gave them to Enos, in consequence
of his own great age and approaching departure, is not given. Neither
are we informed what the age of Enos was at the time he took
possession of the plates. But Enos tells us that, one hundred and
seventy-nine years from the time Lehi left Jerusalem, he himself began
to be old and he saw that he must soon go down to the grave. How long
he lived after this it is not stated; but from this date it is plain
that Jacob and Enos must have lived to be very old men. Jacob was
probably born soon after his parents left Jerusalem, so that his life
and that of his son Enos must have nearly covered the period mentioned
by the latter--one hundred and seventy-nine years.
The son of Enos and grandson of Jacob, whose name was Jarom, took
charge of the plates after Enos. We do not know how old he was at the
time they were handed to him; but we learn that he finished his
writing upon them two hundred and thirty-eight years after Lehi left
Jerusalem; that is, he had possession of the plates about fifty-nine
years. From this it appears that he lived to be very old; for if
Jacob, his grandfather, was born within four years after Lehi left
Jerusalem, and Enos was born before Jacob was seventy-five years of
age, Enos must have been at least one hundred years old at the time
that he writes concerning his approaching descent to the grave; and if
Enos was born within seventy-nine years after Lehi left Jerusalem, and
Jarom was born to Enos at the time the latter was fifty-nine years
old, Jarom also must have been one hundred years old when he delivered
the plates to his son Omni. If he lived to be one hundred years old,
he must have been about forty-one years of age when his father
delivered the records to him; but we are inclined to think he was
older than this, and that his father Enos was at least one hundred and
twenty years old when he died.
The plates containing the records were in the hands of Omni forty-four
years, or until two hundred and eighty-two years from the departure of
Lehi from Jerusalem. Thus we have four men in direct descent whose
lives, from the birth of the first to the death of the fourth, cover a
period of but little, if any, less than two hundred and eighty years!
These are very remarkable instances of longevity. It speaks highly for
the correctness of their habits and the salubriousness of the climate
where they lived, and shows how greatly they were favored of the Lord.
Travelers inform us that in portions of the countries of Ecuador and
Peru the inhabitants attain a very high age. In one valley in Ecuador
visited by Hassaurek, the curate told him that persons who lived a
hundred or more years did not at all constitute exceptional cases.
Another traveler says:
"Longevity is common among the Peruvian Indians. I witnessed the
burial of two, in a small village, one of whom had attained the age of
one hundred and twenty-seven, and the other of one hundred and nine;
yet both enjoyed unimpaired health to a few days before their decease.
On examining the parish books of Barranca, I found, that in seven
years, eleven Indians had been buried, whose joint ages amounted to
one thousand two hundred and seven."