In addition to the three ship voyages and the mentioned departure of the group of five thousand, there were “many people” who went into the land northward. It is possible that the long residence of the people in the land of Zarahemla had created an increase of population that pushed the desire for expansion. The death of so many men in war suggests that other factors were also at work, however, as the loss of so many men should have delayed a population-pressure-based expansion.