The accession to the throne by Lib, the son of Kish, marks the beginning of an important era in the history of the Jaredites. The following events are mentioned:
(1) In his day the poisonous serpents (Ether 9:31) were destroyed and communication established with the Land Southward (Zarahemla).
(2) This land was then covered with forests which were the habitat of various kinds of animals. Hunting expeditions opened the way into this country.
(3) These hunters, of whom many remained in the Land Southward, "built a great city by the narrow neck of land, by the place where the sea divides the land."
(4) During the reign of Lib the entire land northward became densely populated, "covered with inhabitants." (v. 21)
Forests in which animals might be hunted for pelts, bones, horn, etc., if not for food, and a shipping port may have been of vital importance at this time to the flourishing industries in the Land Northward. Marquis de Nadaillac, who describes certain mounds in North America, and artifacts found therein which evidently had crossed a large part of the continent, came to the conclusion that it is not improbable that articles from Mexico or Florida could, as far back as the time of the moundbuilders, have found their way to what is now New England and Minnesota.
Gold, Silver, Iron, Brass. Nadaillac says that ornaments of shell, stone, and even wood, have been unearthed in North American mounds. The wooden trinkets were covered with copper. Some of the ornaments were made of copper, plated with gold, silver, or iron. Mica was used for mirrors. (See, Prehistoric America, Nadaillac, pp. 46-132)