The area around Shazer may provide the best hunting along the Frankincense Trail and may be the reason that Nephi makes mention of hunting at this point, but not during the stay in the valley of Lemuel. If we may assume some continuation from ancient times, the modern fauna may give us a clue about the type of animals Nephi and his brothers hunted. Modern Saudi Arabia lists the following potential food sources: antelopes, baboons, honey badgers, cats, foxes, gazelles, goats, sheep, and oryx. Potter and Wellington cite an undated ancient Greek who describes wild camels, flocks of deer, gazelles, sheep, mules, and oxen in this area.
Narrative: Shazer is only a temporary camp, but the Lehites pitch their tents, perhaps implying that on other days, they had not paused even this long. Instead of the complex narratives related about events that occurred while they were in the valley of Lemuel, the narrative at this point turns terse. The events deal with physical survival, not those of spiritual and personal significance.
Geography: The family continues in the south-southeast direction as they leave from Shazer: “we did go forth again in the wilderness, following the same direction” (v. 14).