Here is a demonstration to show that the land of Nephi (Delmarva tail) is long and narrow, albeit there are many rivers that cut this way and that way so traversing the land was arduous and travelers could get lost as this happened several times by various expeditions and armies.
Think of the land of Nephi as long and narrow:
• Alma became an enemy to king Noah and fled
Shilom to the waters of Mormon to hide himself from the searches of the king.
•
Place called Mormon at the borders of the land – infested at times and seasons by wild beasts
• Alma hides in a small thicket of trees near a fountain of pure water in the waters of Mormon
Time to pack your bags and head out! All roads lead due north:
"NOW Alma, having been warned of the Lord that the armies of king Noah would come upon them, and having made it known to his people, therefore they gathered together their flocks, and took of their grain, and departed into the wilderness before the armies of king Noah."
• Alma and his church gather their flocks & grain and fled into the wilderness
• Alma
fled for 8 days into the wilderness
• Came to a beautiful pleasant land – a land of pure water
• The church of Alma pitched tents and built buildings
• Alma’s people prosper in the land of Helam and
build the city of Helam
• Lamanites discover the land of Helam
• Lamanite army approaches the land and the people in the fields retreated to the city
• Alma shows Lamanites the way that leads into the land of Nephi
• Lamanites set guards around the city of Helam
• Amulon and the wicked priests take up permanent quarters in Helam – Amulon is appointed king in Helam by the authority of the Lamanites
"AND it came to pass that Amulon did gain favor in the eyes of the king of the Lamanites; therefore, the king of the Lamanites granted unto him and his brethren that they should be appointed teachers over his people, yea, even over the people who were in the land of Shemlon, and in the land of Shilom, and in the land of Amulon. For the Lamanites had taken possession of all these lands; therefore, the king of the Lamanites had appointed kings over all these lands."
"And now the Lord said unto Alma: Haste thee and get thou and this people out of this land"
• Alma’s people gather their flocks and grain all night long
• Lamanites fall under a sleep spell while Alma’s people flee into the wilderness
• Alma’s people travel for an entire day and pitch their tents in a valley they called Alma
• Alma’s people can’t stay long because the Lord warned them to make haste and flee from the Lamanites
• The people depart the valley and journey into the wilderness for 12 days and arrive at Zarahemla
(The trip from Helam to Zarahemla took 13 days)
Alma is now safely in Zarahemla being separated by the land of Nephi via the Sidon River and the long narrow strip of wilderness on the east side that leads down into the tail of Delmarva.
NOW NOTICE A CHANGE IN THE LANGUAGE WHEREBY THE LAND IS NO LONGER NARROW BUT WIDE:
Mosiah 27:6 wrote:And there began to be much peace again in the land; and the people began to be very numerous, and began to scatter abroad upon the face of the earth, yea, on the north and on the south, on the east and on the west, building large cities and villages in all quarters of the land.
Alma is no longer in the tail of the peninsula but has gone down into the main body of land which is the peninsula proper or the land of Zarahemla that adjoins northern Bountiful that leads into the narrow neck northward and into the continent.
