In this sad condition of bondage and serfdom the people of Limhi had one hope. It was to communicate with their Nephite friends in the land of Zarahemla. To this end Limhi secretly fitted out an expedition consisting of a small number of men. This company became lost in the wilderness, and traveled a long distance northward until they found a land covered with the dry bones of men who appeared to have fallen in battle. Limhi's people thought this must be the land of Zarahemla and that their Nephite brethren who dwelt there had been destroyed. But in this they were wrong, for they found with the dead some records engraved on plates of ore, which, when afterwards translated by the power of God, showed that these bones were those of some of the Jaredites who had been slain in war. [Illustration: DISCOVERY OF THE RECORDS OF THE JAREDITES.] They missed the land of Zarahemla, having probably traveled to the west of it and passed northward through the Isthmus of Panama. Shortly after this a small company numbering sixteen men reached them from Zarahemla. Their leader's name was Ammon. He had been sent by king Mosiah to the land of Nephi to find out what had become of the people, or their descendants, who left with Zeniff. When Ammon and those that were with him reached Lehi-Nephi, king Limhi happened to be without the walls of the city, and his guards fancying that Ammon and his friends were some of the priests of Noah took them and put them in prison. The next day the mistake was discovered, and Limhi and his people were overjoyed to hear from their friends. Soon plans were laid to effect the escape of the enslaved Nephites, which, under the guidance of Limhi, Ammon and Gideon, was successfully accomplished. The Lamanite guards were made drowsy with a large present of wine, and while they were in this drunken stupor, the people of Limhi escaped through an unfrequented pass, taking with them such things as they could safely carry away. They were then led by Ammon to Zarahemla. When the Lamanites found, to their great surprise, that their bond servants had escaped, they sent an army after them. It so happened that these troops lost themselves in the wilderness. Whilst traveling hither and thither, not knowing which way to go, they came across the priests of king Noah. These priests, at the instigation of Amulon, their leader, joined the Lamanite troops, and they unitedly endeavored to get back to the land of Nephi. While thus engaged, they wandered near the city of Helam.