According to Alma 16:7, "Zoram and his sons crossed over the river Sidon, with their armies, and marched away beyond the borders of Manti into the south wilderness, which was on the east side of the river Sidon." Was this "south wilderness" here in Alma 16:6-8 part of the "narrow strip of wilderness" mentioned in Alma 22:27,29 which ran "through the borders of Manti, by the head of the river Sidon," and which separated the general land of Zarahemla (on the south) from the general land of Nephi? If it was, then was this "south wilderness" also the same as the "south wilderness" mentioned in Alma 22:30-31 which wilderness was south of the "land which was called Desolation"? In Alma 22:31 we find that "they [either the Jaredites or the people of Zarahemla] came from there [the land Desolation] up into the south wilderness. Thus . . . the land on the southward was called Bountiful . . ." Because the land Bountiful is not interpreted by most geographical theorists to be in the same location as the narrow strip of wilderness, the reader should note that here we have a possibility for duplication of place names. This should alert the Book of Mormon geography student to the idea that geographical names involving directional terms might be relative locations rather than a proper name. Thus a "west sea" might just be called that name because it was "west" of the writer's reference point. If the writer changed his reference point northward, the "west sea" might become a "south sea" (see Alma 53:8). Additionally, if there were two separate locations referred to as the "south wilderness," and if Mormon made no distinct note of that to the reader, then there might be other duplications of place names. For example, the "land on the northward" mentioned in Alma 22:31 might not be equivalent to the "land which was northward" mentioned in Alma 50:29. And the "east wilderness" mentioned in Alma 25:5 might not be the same "east wilderness" referred to in Alma 50:7. [Alan C. Miner, Personal Notes]