817 



ATACAMA. 



ATCHEElsr. 



61 8 



Pilcomayo. The city, which stands upon a commanding spot, was 

 built in 1535 by a colony of Spaniards under Juan de Salazar ; and 

 from the convenience of its situation speedily became a place of aome 

 consequence. It was nearly destroyed by fire ha 1543, the greater 

 part of the houses being built of wood. From this calamity it 

 speedily recovered ; and in 1547 was a place of sufficient importance 

 to be erected into a bishop's see. It contains a cathedral, three 

 parish churches, and four convents and monasteries. It once con- 

 tained a college of Jesuits. Properly speaking the town consists of 

 only one street surrounded by several lanes and a great number of 

 houses which stand apart and are surrounded by groves of orange 

 trees. Even in the principal street most of the houses are small and 

 consist merely of a shop with two or three apartments attached to it. 

 Few of the houses have flat roofs ; the greater part are covered with 

 tile*. The best buildings in the city are those mentioned above. The 

 inhabitants are of European and Indian descent with the addition of 

 a few negroes ; their number is estimated at 10,000. Asuncion carries 

 on a ronsiderable trade in the export of hides, tobacco, sugar, and 

 mate 1 'it Paraguay tea, which is largely used all through South 

 America. Great numbers of homed cattle, horses, mules, asses, 

 sheep, and goats are bred by the farmers, who grow wheat, maize, 

 sugar, tobacco, cotton, mandioc, potatoes and other vegetables. 

 Honey and wax are produced in abundance ; and the rivers supply 

 large quantities of fish. 



The air in and about Asuncion is generally temperate and genial ; 

 for the greater part of the year the wind blows from the south. 



The policy of the late Dictator of Paraguay, Dr. Francia, in pro- 

 hibiting all intercourse with foreigners and with the surrounding 

 states, preserved the republic from the miseries of constant civil and 

 political commotions so characteristic of the neighbouring American 

 republics ; but was very detrimental to the trade of Asuncion and of 

 the republic generally. By treaties however concluded with the 

 President of Paraguay in March 1853 the subjects of Great Britain, 

 France, Sardinia, and the United States are free to navigate the rivers 

 of Paraguay, and to settle and trade in any of the towns of the re- 

 public. In the dry season vessels drawing 6 feet water and in the 

 wet season vessels drawing 12 feet can sail up to Asuncion, above 

 which the river Paraguay is navigable for vessels of considerable size 

 for 600 miles. 



ATACA'MA, one of the five provinces of the department of Potosi, 

 in Bolivia, in South America, includes that part of Bolivia which lies 

 to the west of the Andes along the Pacific Ocean. It is bounded N. 

 by the river Loa, which separates it from Peru, and runs between 21 

 and 22 S. lat., and S. by the river Salado, which partly divides it 

 from Chili, and flows near 26 S. lat. The province extends along the 

 coast upwards of 210 miles, with a breadth of from 25 to 40 miles. 

 The coast is indented by the bays of Moreno and Mexillones, which 

 are about 30 miles apart, the intervening space being occupied by a 

 mountainous headland projecting into the sea. Moreno Bay opens to 

 the south. Cerro Moreno, the highest of four mountain peaks which 

 stretch S.S.E. from the bead of Moreno Bay, is 4170 feet high. Mexil- 

 lones Bay is extensive and deep, opening to the north. The shore is 

 lined with high land, barren, and destitute of fresh water. The pro- 

 vince of Atacama is divided into the Upper (Sierra) and Lower country. 

 The Sierra is on the north-east, within the chain of the Andes ; it is the 

 smaller of the two divisions, and contains some fertile valleys in which 

 the common fruits and seeds of the South American sierras are culti- 

 vated. The surrounding mountains contain mines of gold and silver, 

 which however are not worked. On the mountain sides are numerous 

 herds of vicunas, which the Indians hunt; selling their skins and eat- 

 ing their flesh, which is tender and of excellent taste. The Lower 

 country consists of wide plains covered with sand, generally of a dark 

 brown colour, sometimes quite black, with occasionally a streak of 

 white. On the plains rise some high ridges and a few rounded knolls 

 of great bulk ; in no part however is there any trace of vegetation. In the 

 southern district called the Desert of Atacama, which extends towards 

 the boundary of Chili, such is the scarcity of water that at the time of 

 the first conquest many of the Spaniards perished of thirst. Towards 

 the boundary of Peru a few rivers descend from the Andes ; and along 

 the valleys in which their courses run a rich vegetation is displayed, 

 the soil producing bananas, cotton, figs, vines, and other fruits and 

 vegetables. The most considerable of these rivers is the Cobija, at 

 the mouth of which is a good harbour. The town connected with 

 this harbour was formerly called Cobija, but is now Puerto-de-la- Mar. 

 It is situated in 22 30' S. lat., at the foot of hills which rise abruptly 

 to an elevation of between 2000 and 3000 feet. On the hills the cactus 

 alone flourishes and attains the size of a tree, but in summer it also 

 dies. The site of the town is an accumulation of earth and stones, 

 with an admixture of small shells, showing that the whole must have 

 been at one time under the sea. The town is protected by a small 

 fortress. The houses are built of wood, and are almost all occupied 

 as shops, in which a great variety of European and American goods 

 are aold. There is a church, with a tower, the oldest building in the 

 place. Secure anchorage for vessels is found at a short distance from 

 the shore. The entrance to the harbour or basin is by a narrow chan- 

 nel between low dark rocks. Formerly Bolivia received its foreign 

 gnpplieH by way of Arica and Tacna in Peru, but since 1827 Puerto- 

 de-la-Mar has been the port of entry for the republic, and there is 



consequently a considerable trade carried on at the port. European 

 dry goods, cottons, silk, quicksilver, tobacco, tea, wine, American 

 domestic cottons, flour, &c., are imported, and are sent into the inte- 

 rior in small parcels on asses' backs to Calama, thence by mules across 

 the Cordillera. The exports are gold, silver, copper, and copper-ore. 

 Provisions are imported from Chili and Peru, timber from Chiloe and 

 Concepcion. The inhabitants of the town are chiefly occupied in 

 fishing for congers, which they salt and export to the interior and to 

 other ports. Along the coast a species of cod called ' tollo ' is caught in 

 abundance, and exported. The interior district contains veins of crys- 

 tal of various colours, of jasper, talc, copper, blue vitriol, and alum. 

 About 6 miles N. from Puerto-de-la-Mar is a rocky point, under shelter 

 of which vessels load with copper-ore from the neighbouring mines. 

 This natural harbour is called Catica. The landing is attended with 

 some difficulty, goods being conveyed through the surf on balsas. Rich 

 copper-mines are about a mile and a half inland from Catica. From 

 the scarcity of fuel very little of the ore is smelted. There is no coal 

 in the province. Charcoal is brought from Chili or Peru. Cactus- 

 wood is used for the fires required in cooking. The ores, which con- 

 sist of brown and red oxides, sulphuret, and green carbonate, after 

 being culled at the mine mouth, are carried on asses' backs to be 

 smelted or exported. A large proportion is exported to Swansea to 

 be smelted there. Much inconvenience has been experienced from the 

 want of fresh water, and proposals have been made to remedy this 

 evil by boring Artesian wells near the town of Puerto-de-la-Mar. The 

 saltness of the springs is owing to beds of nitre and salt through 

 which they percolate. Sweet water is so highly prized that it is some- 

 times sent as a present from Valparaiso or Peru. Atacama Alta and 

 Atacama Baja are towns situated in the interior ; Alta on the west 

 side of the Andes, and Baja in the plain, on the river Loa, about 70 

 miles E.S.E. from Puerto-de-la-Mar. 



ATAONI. [ABAEDE.] 



ATBARA. [NUBIA.] 



ATCHAFALAYA RIVER. [LOUISIANA.] 



ATCHAM, Shropshire, a village and the seat of a Poor-Law Union, 

 in the parish of Atcham and Wellington division of the hundred of 

 South Bradford, is situated in 52 40' N. lat., 2 39' W. long., distant 

 4 miles S.E. from Shrewsbury, and 153 miles W.N.W. from London : 

 the population in 1851 was 462. The living is a vicarage in the arch- 

 deaconry of Salop and diocese of Lichfield. Atcham Poor-Law Union 

 contains 43 parishes and townships, with an area of 103,690 acres, and 

 a population in 1851 of 19,088. 



The village is beautifully situated on the left bank of the river 

 Severn, which is here crossed by a handsome stone bridge, erected 

 from a design by Gwyn. Atcham was the birth-place of Odericus 

 Vitalis, the early British historian. Within sight of the village, near 

 the confluence of the Tern and Severn, is Attingham Hall, the noble 

 mansion of Lord Berwick. The Roman station Uriconium, or Wrox- 

 eter, is about a mile from the village. A portion of the city wall is 

 still standing, and many inscribed stones, altars, coins, and personal 

 ornaments have been at various times discovered. 



ATCHEEN, or ACHEEN, a small independent kingdom in Sumatra, 

 occupies the north-western extremity of the island, and borders gene- 

 rally on the country of the Battas. The kingdom does not extend 

 inland farther than about 50 miles. It stretches along the coast to 

 the south-westward as far as the town of Barus, in 2 N. lat., 98 30' 

 E. long. On the northern coast the territory of Acheen reaches as far 

 eastward as Karti, in 5 10' N. lat., 97 40' E. long. 



The Portuguese first visited Pedir, on the north-west coast, in Sep- 

 tember, 1509. In June, 1602, the first English ships visited Acheen. 

 The fleet was under the command of Sir James Lancaster, who bore 

 a letter from the queen 1 of England to the sultan of Acheen. On 

 this occasion a regular commercial treaty between the two govern- 

 ments was drawn up and executed. The chief object of this treaty 

 was to obtain a continuous supply of pepper from Acheen. In the 

 year 1659 the reigning queen of Acheen, having granted some addi- 

 tional privileges to the East India Company, a factory was established 

 at Acheen town. The trade however was never very flourishing in 

 this quarter, and may be said to have ceased upon the establishment 

 of the Company's settlement at Bencoolen, on the south coast of 

 Sumatra, from the neighbourhood of which place the pepper was prin- 

 cipally collected. 



A treaty was concluded with the sultan of Acheen in April 1819 

 by Sir Stamford Raffles, acting on behalf of the government of the 

 East India Company, whereby the right of trading freely to all the 

 ports of that kingdom was assured to the British upon the payment 

 of fixed and declared rates of duty. By this treaty His Highness like- 

 wise engaged " not to grant to any person whatever a monopoly of 

 the produce of his states, and to exclude the subjects of every other 

 European power, and likewise all Americans, from a fixed habitation 

 or residence in his dominions." 



On the occasion of concluding this treaty the East India Company 

 advanced to the sultan of Acheen a loan of 50,000 dollars, and 

 presented to him as a gift six pair of brass field-pieces and a consider- 

 able quantity of ammunition and military stores. 



The government of Acheen is an hereditary monarchy, and the 

 king or sultan is limited in his authority only by the power of the 

 greater vassals, so that the bulk of the people are not in the enjoyment 



