Show UNWITTING WITNESSES VI according to the book of mormon the second race of people who settled upon the land of america were called Nep hites they left the city of jerusalem BC being the first year of the reign of Zede zedekiah klah king of israel the colony comprised lehi a patriarch of the lineage of joseph who was waa sold by his brethren his wife and six sor son laman after whom the Lama were named lemuel sam nephi after whom the Nep hites were called jacob and joseph after this family left jerusalem they sojourned sojourn ed in the wilderness for a considerable time and while there they were joined by another israelite named ishmael his wife three sons moms and five daughters the father died before the colony started to cross the ocean and the sons of lehi took the daughters of ishmael to wife there was also a servant of lehi named zoram belonging also to jerusalem who joined the company in the deserts desert married one of ish maehs daughters and emigrated with the colonists this colony constituted the original founders of the second race and were the aborigines of the present indian tribes of tho the now new world the people of having become absorbed into this race while gehis company tarried at different points on their route from jerusalem to the place of embarkation they employed the time like the Jared ites before them in gather ing provisions grain and seeds phlp building and other necessary preparations the course they took was ct nearly a south southeast direction until they came to the degree north latitude then nearly east of the sea of arabia then they sailed in a 4 bOuth southeast east direction and landed on the continent of america in chili thirty degrees south latitude see compendium page upon their arrival the colonists commenced tilling the land and sowing the grain they had brought with them and were soon rewarded with abundant harvests they found I 1 beasts in the forests of every kind both the cow and the ox and the ass and the horse and the goat and the wild goat and all manner of wild animals which were for the use of man and we did find all manner of ore both of gold and of silver and of copper book of mormon pap page 47 the animals spoken of hereim were imported into the country by the first colony book of mormon pages and shortly after their settlement and spreading over the face of the land the Nep hites discovered evidences of a former numerous race having previously occupied the country this discovery which was a surprise to the new settlers was made by accident the first section settled by the colony of was called ja ia which is supposed to have been north of the headwaters headwaters of the river Mag magdelena delens its northern boundary being a few days journey south of the isthmus about thirty years after the landing of the Zarah emla colony nephi had become a prominent leader and thereby excited the envy and ill will of his older brothers in his record nephi declares el that their anger did increase against me insomuch that they did seek to take away my life page 70 in consequence of this ill will towards him nephi gathered together his family and also zoram and his family and sam jacob and joseph his brethren and his st sisters aters their families and as many others as would go and departed into the wilderness to seek a home where they might dwell in peace the record says after we had journeyed for the space of many days we did pitch our tents and my people wanted that we should call the name of this place nepal and all those who were with me did take upon them to can call themselves the people of nephi 11 This landof land of nephi is supposed says prof 0 pratt to be in or near ecuador this was the first important division of gehis colony and these factions were never again united jacob the brother of nephi says keys and it came to pass that nephi died now the people which were not lam Lama nitea were Nep hites nevertheless they were called ne philes hites jacobites josephites zoram ites tee Eama Lama lemue Lemu lites elites and ishma elites but 1 I jacob shall not hereafter distinguish them by these names but I 1 shall call them laman ites that seek to dest destroy boy xoy the people of nephi and those who are ampe friendly rieb to nepal I 1 shall ahall call Nep hites according to the reigns of the kings page we find that the colony had spread now over a large area of country after landing on the chilian coast they worked northward toward the isthmus the Nep hites had dwelt in the land of nephi for nearly years during which time they had many wars with the Lama and the more wicked part of the ne philes were destroyed mosiah one of their prophets was warned of the lord to flee out of the land of nephi and as many as were desirous to escape the awful turmoil and bloodshed were invited to accompany him into the wilderness in their wanderings northward they came to the section of country called Zarah emla behold it came to pass that moslah mosiah discovered that the people of Zarah emla came out from jerusalem at the time that Zede zedekiah klah king of judah was carried away captive into babylon page there is little known of this small colony that left jerusalem eleven years after lehi their present leader was Za rahem after whom the country was named their fore fathers journeyed in the wilderness crossed the great waters and had dwelt in the land for nearly four centuries when mosiah discovered them they had brought no records with them and probably had kept none as their language had become corrupted and after mosiah had been appointed their king they were taught the language of the Nep hites and then Zarah emla gave a genealogy of his fathers according to his memory whatever their religion might have been when 9 they ax arrived rIved they now I 1 denied the being of their creator these were the people whom fell in with after the complete annihilation of his people and with whom he dwelt for the space of nine moons 13 it is probable that died and was buried at the end of that time for it had been prophesied that if he would not repent the whole of hla his people and also his household should be destroyed and he should only live to see the fulci fulfilling aling of the prophecies which had been spoken concerning another people receiving the land for their inheritance and corlou corian humr should receive a burial hy by them and every soul should be destroyed save it were book of mormon page the people continued to spread 7 both north and south and from the N X incidental di of the wall ties they settled it in ie easy to lecog JS nize their agreement with the loca ties in which have been discovered the ruins and relies relics of just such peoples such customs and such events as the book of 4 records register in north america they occupied trade tracts I 1 aco covered vered w with ith large bodies bodice of w water page and they did travel to an exceeding great distance insomuch that they came to large bodies of water and many rivers yes ea and even they did spread forth into an all parts of the land page ayad and it came to pass that they did multiply and spread and did go 90 forth from the land southward to the land and northward and did spread in floi nuch that they began to cover the th face of the whole earth from the oft south atlantic south of cape born to the sea north arctic north of north america from the 6 sea west pacific to the sea east atlantic page they not only traveled by land cut but they also used ships in their migrating nl grating and it came that haroth he being an exceeding curious man an therefore he went forth and billt built an exceeding large ship on the borders of the land bountiful by the land isolation lation and launched it forth aitto atto the west ae sea b by the narrow neck which led into into the ke land northward north america and behold there were many of the we N Nep hites who did enter therein aad did 12 sail forth with much provisions and also many women and children and they took their course northward and in the thirty and eighth ath year this man built other PS pe and the first ship did return wad and many more people did enter luto into it page the lands first inhabited by the as permanent settlements were near the isthmus of panama this locality is often referred to as a narrow neck of land from thence they spread into all parts along the coasts and also inland the river sidon which ran by the laud and Zarah emla has been recognized wa ed by prof pratt as the magda leoa frequent mention is made also of their location in the vicinity of rivers aver and large bodies of water forming another identification of analogies between the geography of the country and the record alma 1 29 ete etc in their southern settlements they would meet with the copious hydro graphy of the andes in chill chili and peru eru the great rivers amazon orinoco and rio bio de la plata alone with their numerous tributaries tributa ries would ottle be sufficient to justify the ft elenoe ference as to rivers while the large arke bodies of water referred to by llna as being bein met with on the american coast will be ex bained by the great gulfs bays and as of the pacific which indent it mormon when he of A land of waters rivers river and fount page referred to the rawl present state of new york the land of cumorah 11 one of the most moat noted localities for lakes rivers waterfalls etc the cities of Zarah emla and nephi were capitals of the countries bearing respectively these names pages and the land of nephi did run in a straight course from the east sea to the west page these cities were about twenty two days journey apart see note t page A good part of this space apace was a desert the scene of numerous sanguinary conflicts and other events of great interest and historical importance south america was called lehi because lehi landed there north america was called because that was the country he first landed upon page was an an ancestor aestor of Zarah emla and probably the founder of that numerous people for we read the land north was called which was atter after the son of zedekiah for the lord did bring into into the land north and lehi into the land south page another section of country north of the isthmus occupied by the Nep hites was called desolation page note A A large city of that name was its capital page verses 5 7 this is the locality where the people of Zarah emla discovered the ruins and remains of the extinct Jare Utes page verse 30 30 it was also the place where the colony afterwards called the ache people of Zarah emla first landed the Nep hites took advantage of their position on this narrow neck of land by spreading out from the east sea to the west and fortifying the passes thereby preventing their mortal enemies the penetrating into the country northward thus in the ram races which are declared by the book of mormon writers to have inhabited the western coast of america in the earliest and subsequent periods we discover those characteristics circumstances and doings whose signs and mementoes still remain upon the face of the land we are told of ram races sufficiently mixed to account for the strange variety and incongruity of the remains and at the same time so distinct in their origin and peculiar nationalities as to be easily separated and their derivation assigned thus the Jared ites the most ancient settlers have attested their presence by the most perfect a and n d indelible marks both of their great antiquity and of their oriental derivation ri then the presence of more modem peoples is incontestably established the inspired records declare they were israelites from jerusalem A thousand signs and symbols remain upon the face of the land and exist in collections of scientific and arch ve curiosities proving the registers to be true the only people inhabiting those regions now and whose history has been written are the incas and their history dates no further back than the incursion and conquest by the spanish in the early part of the century nothing has been written of their ancestors and all that is known relating to pro In cartal times is derived from the outrageously fabulous traditions of the indians the social economy and national government of the incas or ancient peruvians was decidedly theocratic and mosaic in character this is clear by their uniting under one and the same head both their secular and religious affairs the inca the representative of the deity or sun as the name implies was at the head of the and presided at all the principal religious festivals he made laws for the social government of his subjects and imposed taxes he was the source of all dignity authority and power great respect was shown for heirs and ancestral branches of the royal line all of whom shared with the ruling monarch the sacred name of inca blasphemy against the sun was punished with death as were also theft adultery and murder the empire was divided like the tribes of israel into equal divisions and subdivisions first into four grand divisions then into departments of inhabitants then into various numbers the least of which was ton ten the revenue and apportionment of the land was decidedly there was no money used among them they were a race of workers but they wrought as the members of one family the soil was divided among the people the apportionment being regulated according to the numbers in the family the division was revised every year the territory was separated into three parts and was waa cultivated by the common people religion or the sun aun embracing the costly ceremonial and a numerous and illustrious priesthood we were re first p provided rodj d ed for the p pro ro ducts of the second division were devoted to the support of the royal household and defraying the expenses of the government and the people at so much per head divided the third portion the territory devoted to the support of religion was the first to be cultivated that belonging to the people next and lastly that belonging to the inca the whole population turned out at the same time to labor on the monarchs mon arches share of land the manufactures of the country and the working of the mines were managed upon the same co opera tive principle the labors of the people were light and pleasantly diversified with frequent holidays and festivals the monarch was loved and revered by his people and it was considered by them a pleasure to serve him in such an organization and with subjects of such a temper we discover the secret of the influence which those ancient rulers wielded the incas could direct the energies of the whole people as they chose choise and it wae chub that they were able to construct those gigantic works which modern ingenuity even with the assistance of european machinery cannot excel J H KELSON to be continued |