526 MERGE TO GYRENE.

all of them on the same level, and had no other communication than with a preecinction, a few feet above the orchestra ; how many cannot well be ascertained, as we could not, in the present state of the building, determine the position of the lowest range of seats, and the height of it from the level of the orchestra. The sides of the passages were cased with stone and marble, and decorated with architectural ornament ; but we could not ascertain the elevation of the front presented to the stage, no portion of which is standing : perhajjs, among the ruins which encumber the orchestra some details of this might be found ; but the little time which we had to excavate did not allow us to search for them long, and some fragments of Doric columns were all that we dug out, except blocks of stone and marble.

The passages were perfectly strait, and communicated direct with the lower ranges of seats, from which the spectators must have ascended to the upper ones ; but we could not perceive any remains of staircases, which were not perhaps necessary, considering the moderate size of the building. No portion of the stage, except the lower part of a w'all, is now remaining, which indeed seems rather to have formed a part of the proscenium, as it appears to be somewhat have fortunately enabled him to throw light upon the subject in question ; for in Syria this gentleman discovered a theatre which was constructed in the manner alluded to by Vitruvius, and in which some of the vases were actually found in the situations which he has assigned to them.

We had flattered ourselves on first perceiving the hollow spaces, which were left under the seats of the theatre which we are describing at Gyrene, that we had ourselves discovered a second confirmation of this practice ; but no brazen vases appeared in the spaces in question ; and the few remains of pottery which we found in some of them, will not even justify us in asserting that they contained originally vases of earthenware.