ATCHKEX. 



ATHENS, 



of m 

 190 



mch political liberty. The whole kingdom is divided into about 

 small districts or communities, equivalent to parishes. The 

 principal towns on the north and north-east are ATCHBEM, Pedir, 

 Samalanga, and Paaay ; on the south-west side ore Tappous, Sinkell, 

 Nalabou, Tarumon, Arigas, Uayah, and other small towns. The state 

 revenue* are made up of contributions in grain, cattle, and money, sent 

 from each district, and delivered at the king's store ; but the prin- 

 cipal income of the crown consists in custom-duties imposed upon 

 the import and export of merchandise. 



The climate of this part of the island is comparatively healthy. 

 The country is more free than most of the other parts of Sumatra 

 from stagnant waters and from woods, for which reason the 

 inhabitants are likewise less liable to fevers and dysenteries. A chain 

 of mountains, in some parts consisting of two, in others of three 

 parallel ridges, runs from near the north-western point through the 

 whole extent of Sumatra, including of course the territory of 

 Aoheen. [SUMATRA.] 



The A chiuese are in general teller and stouter'and their complexions 

 darker than those of the other inhabitants of Sumatra. They are 

 fond of commercial adventure, and their degree of knowledge, more 

 particularly as regards other countries, is greater than that possessed 

 by other races of Sumatrana who do not engage so largely in 

 commerce. The language in use among the Achmeee is one of the 

 general dialects of the Eastern Islands : in writing they make use of 

 the Malayan character. In religion they are followers of Mohammed, 

 and maintain the forms and ceremonies of the' Moslem faith with 

 much strictness. 



Acheeu still carries on some traffic with the Coromaudel coast, to 

 which it furnishes gold -Just, raw silk, betel-nut, pepper, sulphur, 

 camphor, and benzoin ; receiving in return salt and cotton piece-goods. 

 The camphor and benzoin exported from Acheeu are mostly procured 

 by internal commerce from their neighbours the Battas. Thick 

 cotton cloth and striped or checkered stuffs are manufactured and 

 exported to the Malay peninsula. Some silk goods also are manufac- 

 tured, but not to a great extent 



(Marsden's Hitlury of Sumatra ; Forrest's Voyage to the Mciyui 

 Arckipelago; Parliamentary Papeii.) 



ATCHEEN, or ACHEEN, the capital of the kingdom of Aoheen 

 in Sumatra, is situated at the north-western extremity of the island, 

 in 6* 35' N. lat, 95 45' E. long. The town stands on a river that 

 falls into the sea by several channels near to Acheen-head, and is about 

 a league from the sea, where the shipping lie in a roadstead which in 

 securely sheltered by several small islands. A bar at the mouth of 

 the river, on which is a depth of only four feet at low water during 

 spring-tides, prevents all but small vessels from entering the river. 

 The town, which is said to be populous and to contain 8000 houses, 

 is situated on a plain in a wide valley formed like on amphitheatre by 

 ranges of lofty hills. The houses are detached ; they are built of 

 bamboo and rough timber, and are mostly raised on piles some feet 

 above the ground in order to guard against the effects of inundations. 

 There are numerous mosques and public buildings. The palace of the 

 sultan is a well-fortified though not a very beautiful building ; it is 

 surrounded by a moat and strong walla. Near to the gate are several 

 pieces of brass ordnance of large sise, of which two were sent as a 

 present by Junes I. to the sultan of Acbeen. Owing to the plan of 

 its construction, and the luxuriant growth of the numerous trees 

 which surround and intersect it, the town when seen from a short 

 distance ha* a very pleasing and picturesque appearance. The country 

 beyusid it exhibits a high degree of cultivation, and contains many 

 small villages with white mosques, which add to the beauty of the scene. 



ATCHCJEKF, ATCHl'K, or ATCHU. [TAUHIDA.] 



. 

 1UVKR. [ABHUZZO.] 



Ali.KM'M. [ABftUluo.l 



ATKSSA. [AMUUO.] 



ATrTH, a province of Vestanieh, or Middle Egypt, stretching 

 alone tue "8* eastern bank of the Nile for nearly one hundred 

 miles in length. It is bounded N. by the province of Cairo, \V I y 

 the Nile, which separates it from the province of Retiinuuef, s. by 

 the province of Minieh, and E. by the desert and mountain* which 

 extend to the coast of the Red Sea. Atfk, the capital uf the province, 

 is a small town of about 4000 inhabitants, near the site of the ancient 

 Aphroditepolis, or City of Venus, 40 mil.* S, by E. from Cairo and 20 

 miles N. by E. from Beniaoucf, ill 2" 88' N. lat, 31' 88' K. long. 

 The province of Atfih is not so rich as the opposite one of Beninouef, 

 ths strip of productive land being here much narrower on the right 

 than on the left bank of the Nile. It contains many villages but no 

 place ileesmng UM name of a town except Atfth. 



(Balsam and Burckhardfs Trattli ; Vncriptio* it rjKyyplc.) 



ATH or AATH, a well-built and fortified town in Belgium. 

 province of Hainault, is situated on the Dendcr, an affluent of the 

 Behelde, in 60* M' N. lat., ' 46' K. long., 82 miles by railway S. W 

 from Brussels, and 80 miles 8. E. from Toumay : population about WOO. 



This town was enlarged and strengthened by Albert of Begeren, 

 count of Holland and Hainault. In 1667, on the French taking Ath, 

 it was strongly fortified by Vaubau; but the French lost it in 1678. 

 The fortiflcauon have been considerably strengthened since the 

 psM* of 1615. The town-hall is a UaadsouM building, erected about 



the close of the 16th century. The church of St-Julien, which 

 dates from 1398, was struck by lightning in 1817, the east end only 

 escaping destruction. The church has since been rebuilt with the 

 rx.vptiou of the spire, which was 150 feet high and was much 

 admired. Ath has an arsenal with seven bomb-proof magazines. It 

 has also a college, a school of design, an hospital, a theatre, and an 

 orphan asylum. The manufactures are hats, caps, gloves, cotton and 

 linen cloth, asbestos cloth, soap, and oil. Bleaching, dyeing, brewing, 

 and distilling are carried on. There is also some trade in coal, in 

 grain, and in the products of the neighbouring country, among which 

 are tobacco, poppies, and rape. In the town is a tower called the 

 1 Tour de Burbard,' built about A.D. 1150. 



ATHABASCA, or AtAapacow, the name of a river and lake in 

 the north-western territory of British America. The Athabasca 

 River which is also called the Elk River, baa its sources in the Rocky 

 Mountains near Mount Brown ; in its windings it receives the waters 

 of the Lesser Slave Lake by its outlet the Lesser Slave River : it is 

 also joined by the 1'embina, Red Deer, Clear Water, and Red \Villuw 

 Rivera. Athabasca River fnlls into Athabasca Lake by several 

 channels, the principal one of which is at the south-western extremity 

 of the lake nearly opposite to Fort Chipewyan and Fort Wedderburu, 

 which are trading stations established by the North-West and 

 Hudson's Bay Companies during the time of their rivalry. In the 

 remoter part of its course and above its confluence with Clear Water 

 River, the Athabasca River is likewise known under the name of 

 Riviere ik la Biche. 



Athabasca Lake, frequently called the Lake of the Hills, is situated 

 about 170 miles S.K. of the Great Slave Lake. It is of on elongated 

 shape, lying in a direction nearly east and west. It is nearly 200 

 miles long, but its general width, which decreases towards its eastern 

 extremity, does not exceed 14 or 15 miles. The northern shore of 

 this lake is high and rocky. Fort Chipewyan is in 68 42' N. lat, 

 and 111" 18' W. long. 



The fur traders of the district depend chiefly on the fish of the 

 lake for food, varied by the flesh of the buffalo and the moose-deer. 

 Athabasca Lake generally lies in the route of those who make the 

 overland journey to the arctic coast of America. 



(Bouchette'a Statistical Survey; M'Gregor's Hrititk America; 

 Arctic Expedition! by Franklin, Back, Dease, Simpson, Rae, 4c.) 



ATHBOY. [MEATU.I 



ATHELNEY, ISLE OF. [SOMKBSBTOHIB*.] 



ATHENRY. [QALWAY.] 



ATHENS, or ATHE'N-iE ('Aflijwu), the chief city of Attics, one 

 of the ancient political divisions of Greece, and the capital of the 

 modern kingdom of Greece. 



We propose in this article to give first a brief de. cription of tin- 

 topography of the ancient city, referring to ATTICA for the geographical 

 description of the province ; next, a brief outline of its history, and 

 then to notice the present city. 



Athens is situated about 6 miles from the sea-coast in 87 58' 

 N. lat., 23 43' E. long., occupying part of the central plain of Attica 

 and some heights which run down into the plain, but ate <jiiit<- 

 detached from the mountains on the north frontier of the province. 

 Of these eminences the most conspicuous are Mount Lycnl 

 called by Leake and others Ancheemus (now St. George), with HH 

 peaked summit rising higher than the Acropolis on the north-fast of 

 the city and beyond the ancient walls ; the Acropolis which occupied 

 nearly Uie centre of the ancient city ; the Areiopagua opposite to the 

 west end of the Acropolis ; and the hill of the Museium also included 

 within the ancient walls, the highest eminence on the south. On tin- 

 east side of the city the little river Ilissiw, which rises a few miles 

 north-cast of AmbekSkipo, runs in a south-west direction ali< 

 southern side of tha city, separating the heights of Athens on the 

 west from the higher and more continuous range of Hymettutt on tin- 

 east : it was joined a little above the site of the Lyceium by the 

 Eridiums from the east. This little river which in its natural state 

 might have reached the marshy lands near the coast, is now reduced 

 by the heats of summer and the channel* for artificial Irrigation t<> 

 an inconsiderable stream ; and in ancient times its current must have 

 been diminished from the same cause. The Cephisua which runs 

 due south past the west side of the city at the distance of about a 

 mile and a half from the walls, is also nearly exhausted by the cuts 

 for irrigation before it reaches the neighbourhood of the Peirams. 



Originally the city was confined to the Acropolis, but it gradually 

 extended until it eventually covered a much larger area ; the Acropolis 

 however continued to be designated the city (WAis) throughout : In- 

 historic period, while the word had also a wider signification, in the 

 inner (as Colonel Leake observes) as the word City is applied 



specifically to a part, and also to the whole of London. In it fully 

 developed state Athens consisted of the Acropolis, or city, and the 

 Asty, or upper town. The port-towns of the Peincus ami" I'hal. -rum 

 were connected with the Asty by long walls and were regarded an 

 a third part of Athens, the lower town, in opposition to the Asty : 

 all three parts were within one line of fortifications. 



The accompanying plan of Athens will show the circuit of the 

 walls at the time when the city had attained its greatest magnitude. 

 The plan is taken from Keipart, and shows the direction of the walls 

 according to the views of Forchhammer. Colonel Leake represents 



