Reaching the Land of Promise from the West

As suggested in two earlier posts, reaching Mesoamerica from the east is fraught with problems, from opposing winds and currents, numerous islands, chains, and archipelagos strewn across the entrance to the Caribbean Sea, to passing such luxuriant islands of great size that any crew, after five weeks at sea, would have stopped and settled. On the other hand, approaching the Land of Promise from the west is an entirely different matter.

Leaving the southern coast of Arabia (Oman) and sailing into the Arabian Sea any ship driven by winds and currents would drop almost due south through the Indian Ocean where the currents would have swept the ship to the southeast and into the Southern Ocean and easterly along the West Wind Drift (largest volume current in the world) and the Prevailing Westerlies which flow at high speeds along the southern edge of the South Atlantic, South Pacific and south Indian Ocean gyres. Called the Southern Ocean, this route is the way the Portuguese eventually reached India, by sailing out from the African coast in a sweeping course across the Atlantic—a course out of sight of land for three months, then turning east around the tip of Africa (into the Southern Ocean) and whipping eastward, then turning up along the coast of Australia in the Trade Winds that took them to India.

According to Herodotus, when the Phoenicians sailed around Africa, it took two and a half years. When Vasco da Gama sailed to Calicut on his first voyage, it took ten months—almost seven of those months were spent fighting his way through opposing winds and currents in a dog-leg criss-cross of the winds up the east coast of Africa and across the Indian Ocean, a voyage of only 5,000 miles, while moving out into the Atlantic with the winds and currents to the tip of Africa, a journey of 8,000 miles, took only about 3 and a half months. By da Gama’s third voyage, he swung further out into the Atlantic and down, around Africa, and into the Prevailing Westerlies and West Wind Drift, then turned northward along Australia and picked up the Trade Wings that took him to India—a savings of about 4 months at sea crossing the Indian Ocean.

This usage of the Southern Ocean opened trade to the Spice Islands, the Moluccas, and China for Portugal, forcing Spain to eventually find a route across the Atlantic with Columbus to avoid a war with Portugal. As da Gama found, and later other Portuguese sailors, the winds and currents far south of Africa moved across the Indian Ocean at such speeds, it was a tremendous advantage to reaching the Spice Islands and India in record time.

A satellite photo of the lonely, open Southern Ocean (left) and the obvious movement of the fastest sea current on the planet (right)

These same fast moving winds and currents—called the Prevailing Westerlies and the West Wind Drift, are the self-same winds and currents used by the Lehi Colony to race across the Pacific Ocean. The strongest of these westerly winds come in the Roaring Forties, between 40 and 50 degrees latitude. These Westerlies play an important role in carrying the warm, equatorial waters and winds to the western coasts of continents, especially in the southern hemisphere because of its vast oceanic expanse. Consequently, when these currents and winds reach the southern shelf of South America, the Roaring Forties are turned northward along the continent and become the warmer Humboldt or Peruvian Current. The Furious Fifties and Screaming Sixties continue on south of the continent, through the Drake Passage, and on their circumnavigational course around the world.

In this Southern Ocean, from south of Africa to south of South America, there are no islands along the way, no landfall, no opposing currents or winds. It is clear sailing at high speeds, with nothing to do but hang on and watch the sun in the daytime and the stars at night march across the heavens. It is so uneventful that it led Nephi to write: “And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did guide the ship, that we sailed again towards the promised land; and it came to pass that after we had sailed for the space of many days we did arrive at the promised land” (1 Npehi18:22-23).

There was nothing to see that would have tempted Lamnan, Lemuel and the sons of Ishmael to threaten the ship, Nephi or their parents. This passage is so furious with winds and currents lashing at the vessel, pushing it along at such high speeds, that Lamnan, Lemuel and the sons of Ishmael would have been hanging on for dear life, fearful of the turbulent seas around them. As in other cases where they were threatened with death, these normally disruptive men would have been cowed and “began to see that the judgments of God were upon them, and that they must perish save that they should repent of their iniquities” (1 Nephi 18:15).

Thus, the Lord in his wisdom, would have sent the Lehi Colony along this course to the Land of Promise where no further difficulties would arise and Laman, Lemuel and the sons of Ishmael might honestly repent and not be a torment to Nephi and his family. The opportunity was afforded them, but they did not take advantage of it once their father died in the Land of Promise (2 Nephi 2:3).

The point is, this western approach to the Land of Promise not only matches the scripture record in complete detail, but also makes sense in every way. It also makes sense that Mulek and his friends would have been led in this same path, reaping in Bountiful Nephite planting of some two years, as well as the Jaredite fruit and honey left centuries earlier which Nephi said had been provided for them by the Lord.