ved; yet
shows ruts worn into the stones by chariot wheels; and was lined on
each side with a row of rock columns above twenty feet in height, some
of which have capitals representing a high degree of artistic skill in
their planning and execution. Part of this street was arcaded behind
the columns where was the sidewalk. Fronting upon this street were vast
temples and baths, which, though fallen, are yet grand in their ruins.
All along this way lie great blocks of stone and marble and fallen
columns, so numerous that at times our progress is almost barred. But
not all of the columns are fallen; more than two hundred yet stand on
their original bases. About mid-way along the street it is crossed at
right angles by another which is also lined with columns. Farther on
toward the south it widens into an oval-shaped forum a hundred yards
long, surrounded with Ionic pillars in their original positions.

Just beyond the forum, elevated somewhat, is a large, well-preserved
temple; and immediately to the right of the temple is a theater built
in the hill-side with seats, stage, and other parts plainly
distinguishable. It is easy to sit in one of these empty benches and
see, as a shadow out of the past, a lively scene presented on the now
deserted stage--the voice of eloquence rings clear out of the dead
centuries, the play-house resounds with the applause of the shades that
fill the seats about me--and, then, the curtain of mystery is dispelled
by the bright sunlight that floods all the landscape, and I see nothing
but ruins everywhere. The play is over. The shades have gone again to
their long home.

On a commanding position in the north-west quarter stood temples of
vast proportions whose spacious courts, tottering walls, and forsaken
altars speak in eloquent terms of a glory long since departed.
Evidently this was a populous city, for it possessed two theaters
capable of seating many thousands of people. That it was a religious
city, and much given to idolatry, its temples and altars declare.

While Josephus speaks of the capture of this city by Alexander
Jannaeus, about 85 B.C., we look in vain for a mention of it in the
Bible. But some recent investigators, notably Dr. Merrill, (with whom I
had the pleasure and honor of conversing,) incline to the opinion that
Gerasa was the original Ramoth-gilead. Dr. Merrill gives six arguments
in favor of his position, which, after my observations made in the
place itself, I feel lik