colonnade along its eastern front, were still standing in their original positions, and many fine Corinthian capitals were scattered near them. The shafts were of a greater diameter than the length of my musket, or at least five feet: they were composed of several pieces raised one above the other, having a square hole in the centre of each piece for the reception of a central iron rod, by which the whole were kept together. Some of these blocks seem to have been marked with Greek characters, but whether for the guidance of the workmen in uniting them, or for any other reason, it was not easy to determine, though the former is the most probable, from the marks becoming hidden as soon as the column was complete. On one of these blocks, which was half buried AUU in the earth, the letters in the margin could be distinctly Ce seen. The characters were deeply cut, and not at all worn by exposure to the atmosphere or any other cause. perhaps, have been other characters on the side of the stone that was buried in the earth; but as it was already sunset I could not stay to examine it. ос There might, As my guide stopped for a minute or two, farther on, to light his pipe, I copied from a fine Corinthian architrave of a doorway, apparently belonging to the ruined temple last described, but now partly buried in the earth, the following fragment of an inscription : IЄOWNE XAI . . . . . ΕΛΙΩ the second line having only these two letters distinct. We continued to descend over the brow of the hill for a short distance beyond this, and passed out of the southern gate of the fortress, when the valley beneath it suddenly opened on our view, and displayed at once a profusion of magnificent ruins. The most striking of all these objects were a splendid theatre, fronting our view, with a Corinthian colonnade, a temple, and other buildings, on each side a clear stream which flowed from the eastward, and ran westerly through the centre of the valley occupied by these interesting remains. As we had before dismounted to descend on foot the steep southern brow of the hill, I now suffered my horse to find his own way down, as I remained stationary, to enjoy, in stillness and silence, the prospect which had burst so suddenly and so agreeably on my view. The night was now set in, and the young moon scarcely afforded sufficient light to guide us on our way. I proposed, therefore, to my guide, that we should lie down amidst these ruins and take our rest there for the night, in order that I might enjoy a more distinct and perfect view of the whole at sunrise on the following morning. Abu Farah could not comprehend, however, the nature of the pleasure I proposed to myself by such a step, and accordingly made no hesitation in expressing his fears that the search for treasure (which he supposed to be my only object in examining these ruins) had already made me mad; and that he ought not to indulge it any longer. Absurd as this objection was, I was obliged to yield to it, or risk the loss of those cordial services which a future occasion might, perhaps, render still more important to possess than at present. We accordingly crossed the stream of the valley and ascended the opposite hill, where we found, encamped in a hollow behind the top of the theatre, a tribe of Bedouins; and with these we made our halt for the night. Our horses were taken care of by one of the Arabs, our arms received for the same purpose by another, and the khordj or bag, in which whatever may be wanted on the journey is contained, was received by a third. We were then received into the tent of the principal Arab of the camp, a young kid was prepared for our supper, our horses fed, and coffee burnt and pounded for immediate use. We supped, indeed, sumptuously, as far as excellent appetites, plain wholesome food, and a hospitable welcome could constitute a sumptuous meal; and the evening was passed agreeably to all parties, in smoking and recounting the news of the day; when about midnight we lay down with the young goats and sheep around the embers of the evening fire. Amman, Thursday, March 1.-During the night, I was almost entirely prevented from sleeping by the bleating of the flocks, the neighing of mares, the barking of dogs, and the hourly interruption of some one rising to feed the fire, another to smoke a pipe, and a third to answer some question proposed, which often led to their rising and talking of matters as loudly as if no one was near them. I therefore watched the rising of the morning star with impatience, and when the day began to dawn I stole from the tent unperceived, and hastened down to the ruins in the valley, under the hope of being able to catch a momentary view of the remains there, and return again before my absence should have excited any enquiry. Before I descended into the valley, however, I sketched out, from the brow of the hill, a rough ground-plan of the whole of the ruins in sight from hence, filling up the space within the fort on the opposite hill from the recollections of the preceding evening. It can be regarded only as a bird's eye topographical map of the relative situation of the principal objects, and has no claim to accuracy in the details, which is not indeed to be attained in the mere view of a moment. It served, however, to assist the order and arrangement necessary in giving an account of the buildings themselves, and to correct errors that might otherwise escape regard to their bearings and distances from each other. in On a reference to this plan it appeared that the principal edifices among these ruins stood in the valley now called Waadi Amman. This valley is extremely narrow, apparently not more than 200 yards across, being bounded on the north by the hill on which the fort stands, and on the south by the hill on which the theatre is built. The valley runs nearly east and west, and is traversed by a fine clear brook of excellent water, in which are, to this day, abundance of fish, some of them of a silvery appearance, and upwards of a foot in length. On each side of this winding stream are remains of noble edifices, of which I could only obtain a hasty view; but I set down the remarks that occurred to me at the L time, on following the separate edifices in regular order, beginning from the eastward and going west. The first of these is a square building, the northern front of which, towards the stream, was ornamented with a Corinthian colonnade; while the southern part was a plain solid wall of rustic masonry. The eastern side I could not examine, but the western side had, I think, three doors and four concave niches, one between and one behind each doorway. The interior of this building presented the appearance of an amphitheatre, but whether it was originally open at the top, or covered in with a roof, it was difficult to determine, as the upper part of the building was entirely destroyed, excepting only a high piece of solid wall at the south-west angle. In the centre of this square building was a circular space of about fifty feet in diameter, now full of ruined blocks. At the southern end of this was an arched opening, as if for a passage or outlet for beasts. It could not have been intended as a passage for men; for, though of a convenient breadth, it was too low to admit of the passage of the human form erect. Around this circular space, commencing from the top of the arch, and leaving below it a portion of solid masonry about six feet high, ran circular rows of stone benches, with cunii or flights of smaller steps intersecting them, exactly as in the theatres. There are two distinct divisions of these benches still remaining on the south side, over the arched passage supposed to form an outlet for the beasts, each intersected by cunii, the upper one having only five steps left. On the east and west sides the circle can be traced completely; but on the north it is less distinct, from that part being more covered with the fragments of fallen masonry than any other. The blocks there heaped together, appear, however, to be those of the destroyed benches themselves; and it can be clearly seen, that the lower blocks rested on the arches of a covered piazza running round the whole of the building. I could not well understand how the entrance of the spectators was effected, unless it was by flights of steps leading up from the exterior of one of the fronts of the square building, and now perhaps destroyed. From the bottom of the circle within, or the arena in which the beasts must have fought, up to the lowest range of benches, which was a height of about six feet, I could see no steps by which an ascent could be made from thence. It is, therefore, probable, that the spectators ascended on the outside of the building, and entered the amphitheatre from above, descending by the smaller flights of steps to such parts of the benches as might be accessible or agreeable. The arched piazza, or covered way, that ran around the arena, was probably appropriated to the beasts selected for the games or fights. This arrangement of the several parts of the building would account satisfactorily for the doors of entrance at the west front, the closed wall of the northern one where the colonnade stood, and for the high solid wall at the back on the south, where the dens for the wild beasts probably were, as the low-arched outlet into the arena leads from thence, and the height from it to the commencement of the seats for the spectators, about six feet, would be a sufficient security to the audience from the fury of the wild animals engaged below. The order of the architecture observed in this building is Corinthian; the execution of the work is of the best kind; and its whole appearance excited in me a very lively regret that I could not command time to make an accurate plan of it upon the spot: but, anxious as I was to effect this, other and higher considerations rendered it impossible. Next to this in order, to the westward, and on the same side of the stream, but a few paces only to the south-west of it, is a grand theatre, superior in size and beauty to either of those at Gerash. It is built in the natural hollow presented by the side of the hill, against which it may be said to rest. It faces towards the north, and thus has the cool stream that winds through the valley running before it, being sheltered, also, by the same happy position, from the heat of the southern sun. The front of this fine theatre was originally open; the pavement of the stage still remained perfect; and before it, instead of a wall, ran a fine Corinthian |