The first edifice which presents itself on entering the eastern gate is a theatre, the scene and front of which are entirely destroyed, but the benches are preserved. Still farther on are appearances of an Ionic temple, the colonnade of the street being continued; and about half-way along is a range of Corinthian pillars on pedestals, marking the position of some grand edifice. Not a column, indeed, continues erect, but the plan can be distinctly traced. This supposed temple must have been a hundred paces in depth from north to south; and its façade, which fronted the street and came in a line with the grand colonnade already mentioned, cannot have been less than a hundred and eighty feet in breadth. The chief peculiarity of this structure, however, consists in its having been built on a range of fine arches, so that its foundations were higher than the general level of the town; and hence, as the pedestals of the columns were elevated considerably above the street, it must have presented a very striking object. There are the remains of numerous other edifices, theatres, and temples, but they are all too indistinct to enable even a professional eye to pronounce with confidence on their plan and particular purpose. The prevalent orders of architecture are Ionic and Corinthian, though some few capitals decidedly Doric are discovered among the ruins. The stone generally used throughout the city is that of the neighbouring mountains,--a species of gray rock approaching to a carbonate of lime; but the shafts of some of the pillars are formed of a black substance, supposed to have a volcanic origin, and most commonly preferred for the internal decorations of funereal vaults and sarcophagi.[142] As the ruins here described are not immediately on the position usually assigned to Gamala on the maps, and as Dr. Seetzen, the only person besides Mr. Buckingham who has published any account of them, thinks that they are those of Gadara, the latter enters into a lengthened discussion in support of his own views, calling in the authority of several ancient writers to establish his position. The reader will find that much of the ambiguity which prevails on this point arises from the fact of there being in different parts of Canaan several towns of the same name. For example, there was unquestionably a place called Gadara on the eastern shore of the Lake of Tiberias; while from the testimony of Josephus, it is equally certain that the same appellation was given to the capital of Perea. In the New Testament, the country of the Gadarenes is described as being on the other side of the sea, over-against Galilee, a notice which removes all doubt from the opinion of those who maintain the existence of a town or village, named Gadara; situated to the northward of the site generally claimed for Gamala, and nearer the body of the lake.