We fancy the reason why some suppose that the city Bountiful lay on the west coast is because Hagoth built his ship yards there. But the record does not say he built them in or near the city Bountiful. What is stated is that Hagoth went forth and built him an exceedingly large ship, on the borders of the land Bountiful, by the land Desolation, and launched it forth into the west sea, by the narrow neck of land which led into the wilderness northward (Alma liii. 5). This narrow neck of land was the dividing line between the land Desolation on the north, and the land Bountiful on the south. We think it is evident, from the above, that the city Bountiful and Hagoth's settlement lay on opposite sides of the Isthmus, the first, on the east near Mulek, the second, in the north-west near Desolation.
Before the land Bountiful was settled by the Nephites, it was a wilderness filled with all manner of wild animals of every kind; a part of which had come from the land northward for food (Alma xxii. 31). But the Nephites, to prevent the Lamanites creeping up through the wilderness along the coasts, and thus gaining a foothold in the land northward, at as early a date as possible inhabited the land Bountiful, even from the east to the west sea (Alma xxii. 33).
The city called Bountiful is not mentioned until B. C. 64 (Alma lii), though the land of that name is frequently referred to at earlier dates.
The South-west Border.—All we know of the cities and lands in the south-west is contained in Helaman's report to Moroni of the military operations in that department (Alma lvi, lviii). Four cities are mentioned west of Manti: Judea, Antiparah, Zeezrom and Cumeni. Of these, Antiparah appears to have been situated nearer the coast than Judea, while there was yet another city still nearer the ocean, and apparently to the north of Antiparah. But we can simply guess at their relative positions, no positive information being given us.
Besides the foregoing there was a land called Desolation. Before the time of the Nephites it was thickly inhabited by the Jaredites. In the days of the latter people Bountiful formed its southern border. The two lands apparently joined at the Isthmus. At first, like most frontier districts, it extended indefinitely into the uninhabited regions. When other lands were colonized its boundaries became more definitely fixed. It is generally supposed to have embraced within its borders the region known to moderns as Central America. Its capital was a city of the same name probably built in later years, as it is never mentioned but by Mormon in the account of the long series of wars in which he took so prominent a part.
CHAPTER LXIX.
THE LANDS OF ANTUM, TEANCUM, JOSHUA, DAVID, ETC.—CUMORAH—THE HILLS OF THE NEPHITES—THE RIVER SIDON.
IN THE history of the final wars between the Nephites and Lamanites we find lands and cities mentioned that are nowhere else spoken of. It is presumable that most of them were built during the blest sabbatic era that followed the visit of the Redeemer. The greater portion of these places were situated in North America, but the exact locality can in scarcely any instance be determined. Among those named are the lands or cities of Antum, Angola, David, Joshua, Jashon, Shem, Teancum, Boaz, Jordon, Cumorah, Sherrizah and Moriantum.