became a preacher of righteousness, laboring under the direction of Alma, and we next hear of him ministering with Amulek to the people in the land of Melek. Next year Ammonihah was destroyed. Less than four months had elapsed since the two inspired followers of the Lamb had left it to its fate, when the Lamanites fell upon it like a whirlwind in its suddenness, and as an avalanche in its utter desolation. The dark skinned warriors of Laman swept over these murderers of the saints like a tempest of fire, leaving neither young nor old, babe nor grandsire, to repeat the story of their woes. Not one of Ammonihah's boasting children was left to defy heaven. Nor was the city spared; it, also, was given to the destroyer, and its palaces and temples, its homes and its workshops, were consumed by the devouring fire. For one day the fierce flames consumed the walls and towers of Ammonihah. Their light illumined the lurid sky, shone on the distant mountain tops, and lit the neighboring valleys. Then an uninhabitable desolation, stinking with the rotting carcasses of man and beast, only remained to mark the place where Ammonihah once stood. As the Desolation of Nehors, it was known and avoided by the Nephites for many succeeding years. Emboldened by this signal triumph, the Lamanites entered the borders of the neighboring land of Noah. There they continued their depredations, carrying off many Nephite captives into the wilderness. At this juncture the Nephite general Zoram, with his two sons (Lehi and Aha), rallied his forces, in the hope of intercepting the Lamanite armies in their return to the land of Nephi, and of delivering the captives. Before starting on their march Zoram determined to inquire of the Lord. He and his sons knew that Alma was a prophet and revelator to the nation. Wisely they went first to him and inquired if it was the Lord's will that they should advance into the wilderness in search of their captive brethren. Alma laid the matter before the Lord. The Divine answer came: Behold the Lamanites will cross the river Sidon in the south wilderness, away up beyond the borders of the land of Manti. And behold there shall ye meet them, on the east of the river Sidon, and there the Lord will deliver unto thee thy brethren who have been taken captive by the Lamanites.