“And behold, O Lord, in them there is no light; whither shall we steer? And also we shall perish, for in them we cannot breathe, save it is the air which is in them; therefore we shall perish” (Ether 2:19).

“The brother of Jared, after he had finished the barges, which admitted neither light nor air, asks the Lord whither he shall steer. It will be remembered that the vessels were perfectly tight; there were no holes for either oars or rudder, and no sails, nor could they see any place without the boat, when once shut up in it; and yet he asks the Lord to what point he should steer! Truly, [Joseph] Smith’s nautical genius must have been extremely limited, or he would have told a better yarn than this.”

William Harris, Mormonism Portrayed (Warsaw, IL: Sharp & Gamble, 1841), 14.