Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 2.djvu/899

Rh about 25 B.C., but the warlike natives maintained their independence in the north. And long after, when the rest of Spain was in the hands of the Moors, this rugged region was a refuge to the otherwise vanquished race, which at length acquired strength to break forth from its fastnesses and beat back the invader.  ASUNCION, or, the capital of the Republic of Paraguay in South America. It is situated in the midst of a fertile territory on the eastern bank of the River Para guay (here upwards of GOO yards in width), about 18 miles above the most northerly mouth of the Pilcomayo. It was one of the earlier Spanish settlements in this part of America, being founded in 1535 by Gonzalo deMendoza and Juan de Salazar y Espinosa, and receiving its name of Niiestra SeTiora de la Asuncion, in honour of the festival of the Assumption. Originally a small fort, it soon became, from the convenience of its situation, a town of considerable importance, and in 1547 was erected into a bishopric. Formerly, while the Jesuits were masters of the country, it consisted of a rather irregular assemblage of one story houses, relieved by ecclesiastical buildings of varying pretension, from the cathedral downwards ; but under the dictatorship of Francia, the streets were more symmetrically arranged, and a number of secular buildings erected. These were greatly increased under the rule of his succes sors, and Asuncion was brought into similarity with a European city of corresponding rank, having its govern ment house, its president s palace, its arsenal, custom-house, barracks, military hospital, theatre, and railway station. During the recent war between Paraguay and the neigh bouring states, Asuncion suffered greatly, being taken and plundered in 18G9 by the Brazilian forces, who had already bombarded it from the river. The population, Spanish for the most part in language, but of various races, was esti mated, before the war, at 48,000, and carried on a some what extensive trade in Paraguay tea, or Yerba Mate, hides, tobacco, fruits, molasses, and rum.  ASYLUM ([ Greek ]), in Greek Antiquities, a temple enclosure, within which protection from bodily harm was afforded to all who sought it and could prove their danger. In a general sense, all Greek temples and altars were ao-vXa, that is, it was a religious crime to remove by force any person or thing once under the protection of a deity. But it was only in the case of a small number of temples that this protecting right of a deity was recognised with common consent, and, apparently, these were among the oldest temples of Greece. Such, for example, was the temple of Athena Alea at Tegea in Arcadia, where King Pausanias II. spent the remainder of his days after the battle of Haliartus ; or the temple of Ganymeda (Hebe) at Phlius, where, it is said, persons who had escaped from prison hung up their chains in the sacred grove. Other instances are the sanctuaries of Poseidon at Calauria and Tasnarum, of Athena Chalcioecus at Sparta, and of Amphiaraus at Oropus, though it is possible, also, with regard to the three last-named sanctuaries, to explain the facts as proving only the ordinary religious asyla (Schumann, Griech. Alter- thiimcr, ii. p. 202). In Asia Minor these asylums were more numerous and, in lloman times at least, more exten sive, so that in the reign of Tiberius the Roman senate considered the question of reducing their limits (Tacitus, Anna!., iii. GO, iv. 14). Of these the chief seems to have been that of the temple of Diana at Ephesus, which exer cised its right of protection beyond its boundary wall, at one time so far as to include part of the city. But Augus tus, finding this an encouragement to crime, reduced the limits (Strabo, p. G41). Even debtors obtained sanctuary at Ephesus. Generally, however, the classes of persons who claimed the rights of asylum were slaves who had been mal treated by their masters, soldiers defeated in battle and pursued by the enemy, and criminals who feared a trial, or who had taken advantage of the opportunity allowed for escape before sentence was passed. A slave was required to show the justice of his complaint, and, if he failed, was re stored to his master ; if not, a new master was found. In all cases, it seems that the refugee was retained under protection only so long as his means of subsistence lasted, and it may have often happened that pursuit was given up less out of respect for the rights of a temple than from a conviction that want would soon drive the fugitive out of the asylum again. Asylums in this sense were an institu tion peculiar to the Greeks. Livy, xxxv. 51, Templum est Apollonis Delium ubi et in fano lucoque ea religione et eo jure sancto quo sunt lempla quce asyla Gra d appellant.  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 18G6, 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 con structed 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 coincides with the Chilian province, with the addition, however, of meteoric iron, which has been found in remarkable masses. A large part of what is more especially designated the Desert of Atacama is included in the department. It is not, as the name might suggest, a sandy, but for the most part a rocky and rugged, tract, with the merest patches and strips of vegetation. The capital of the department is Cobija, or, as it is officially called, Puerto de la Mar ; but its prosperity is in some degree threatened by the rise of Mejillones, a seaport which has recently been connected by railway with the principal mining districts. See Philippi, Reise (lurch die Wiiste Atacama, Halle, 1SGO; Tchudi, Raise durch die Andes, a supplement to Petermann s Mittheil, 1860 ; Journ. Roy. Geog. Soc. 1851, 1855.  ATAHUALLPA (atahu, Latin virtus, 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 