ATACAMA, a district of South America, extending along the W. coast from 21° to 25° S. lat., partly belonging to Chili, and partly to Bolivia,—the 24th parallel, according to the treaty of 1866, being recognised as the line of demarcation. (1.) The Chilian province has an area of about 38,000 square miles, with a population of 82,300. It is bounded S. by the province of Coquimbo, W. by the Pacific, and E. by the Argentine Republic. It is one of the richest copper and silver districts in the world, nearly 1000 mines being worked for the former metal, and about 250 for the latter. The silver ore was first discovered in 1832, by a shepherd, Juan Godoy, at a place which has since been occupied by a village that bears his name. The ores of lead and zinc are frequently found, and sulphur, alum, and salt are all of them abundant, the deposit of the last article alone covering about 50 square miles at the Laguna Salada. Gold likewise occurs in sufficient quantity to be mentioned in the list of exports. The capital of the province is Copiapo, with 13,380 inhabitants, and the population is principally clustered in the valleys of Copiapo and Huasco, and in the neighbourhood of the various mines. Caldera is the principal port, and is connected with the capital and the eastern districts by the first railway constructed in South America. The value of the mineral exports through this and the adjacent ports was in 1871 estimated at 6,218,275 dollars. (2.) The Bolivian department has an area of about 70,000 square miles, with a population of about 8000, which is rapidly increasing. It also owes its prosperity almost solely to its wealth in copper and silver. The mines of Caracoles, recently discovered, are said to be the most productive silver mines in the world. In other products it ...

ATAHUALLPA(atahu, Latin virri/J, and allpa, sweet), called the last of the Incas, was the son of Huayna Capac, eleventh Inca of Peru, by the daughter of the conquered sovereign of Quito. His brother Huascar succeeded Huayna Capac; for, as Atahuallpa was not descended on both sides from the line of Incas, Peruvian law considered him illegitimate. He obtained, however, the kingdom of Quito, whether by stratagem or not is uncertain. A jealous feeling soon sprang up between him and Huascar, who insisted that Quito should be held as a dependent province of his empire. A civil war broke out between the brothers, and, though the details of it are not accurately known, it appears that just about the time when Pizarro was beginning to move inland from the town of San Miguel, Huascar had been defeated and thrown into prison, and Atahuallpa had become Inca. Pizarro set out in September 1532, and made for Cassamarca, where the Inca was. Messengers passed frequently between them, and the Spaniards on their march were hospitably received by the inhabitants. On the 15th November, Pizarro entered Cassamarca, and sent his brother and Fernando de Soto to request an interview with the Inca. On the evening of the next day, Atahuallpa entered the great square of Cassamarca, accompanied by some five or six thousand men, who were either unarmed, or armed only with short clubs and slings concealed under their dresses. Pizarro’s artillery and soldiers were planted in readiness in the streets opening off the square. The interview was carried on by the priest Vicente de Valverde, who addressed the Inca through an interpreter. He stated briefly and dogmatically the principal points of the Christian faith and the Roman Catholic policy, and concluded by calling upon Atahuallpa to become a ...

ATALANTA, in Greek Legend, (1) was connected with Arcadia, where, at her birth, she had been exposed on a hill, her father Jasion having expected a son. At first she was suckled by a she-bear, and then saved by huntsmen, among whom she grew up to be skilled with the bow, swift, and fond of the chase, like the virgin goddess Artemis. At the hunt of the Calydonian boar her arrows were the first to hit the monster, for which its head and hide were given her by Meleager. At the funeral games of Pelias, εhe wrestled with Peleus, and won. Melanion, with intense love, followed, fought, and toiled in her service, she despising love, and remaining true to Artemis long, but yielding at last. She was the mother of Parthenopaeus. But there was (2) another Atalanta in Boeotian legends, who was to be obtained in marriage only by him who could outstrip her in a race, the consequence of failure being death. Hippomenes, before starting, had obtained from Aphrodite three golden apples, which at intervals in the race he dropped, and Atalanta, stopping to pick them up, fell behind. Both were happy at the result; but forgetting to thank the goddess for the apples, they were led by her to a religious crime, and for this were transformed into lions (Ovid, Met., x. 560-704). Latterly the adventures of these two separate heroines were united and told as of one.