From Shazer, the party encamped again after “many days” in order to “rest ourselves and obtain food for our families” (1 Nephi 16:17). They determine the proper direction for travel by consulting “a round ball of curious workmanship; and it was of fine brass. And within the ball were two spindles; and the one pointed the way whither we should go into the wilderness” (1 Nephi 16:10, 16). Elsewhere this device was called a “compass” (1 Nephi 18:12). The principle behind the compass apparently was first discovered in the twelfth century. Possibly the idea that these travelers used a compass was based on a misunderstanding of the idiom “to fetch a compass” in the KJV (esp. Acts 28:13, “circled round” in the NKJV). Also at this place, Nephi’s bow of “fine steel” broke while he was hunting, and his brother’s bows “lost their springs” (1 Nephi 16:18, 21). There is no evidence I am aware of for bows made of steel in ancient times. The “bow of steel” mentioned several times in the KJV should actually be a “bow of bronze.”