awe at the thought of the riches, the gayety, and the power that
once reigned here on the border of the desert.

The walls of the ancient city are plainly traceable, and formed an
enclosure about a mile square. Three of its gates are fairly well
preserved. On the south side of the city ruins, less than a half
mile distant, stands a triumphal arch forty feet high. Between
this arch and the city wall are the ruins of a great stone pool
and of a circus. The main street lies on the west side of the
stream. It was paved; 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