Athole

Ath'ole, a district in the north of Perthshire, occupying a great part of the southern slopes of the Grampians.

Athy

Athy', the chief town of County Kildare, on the Barrow, here joined by the Grand Canal, 45 miles SW. of Dublin by rail. Pop. 3600.

Atitlan

Atitlan, a Central American lake, in Guatemala, 24 miles long, and 8 to 10 miles broad. It seems to occupy the crater of an extinct volcano, and is of great depth. It has no visible outlet. High cliff's surround it, and on its southern bank rises the volcano of Atitlan (12,538 feet), at whose foot lies the little Indian town of Santiago de Atitlan, with a pop. of 9000.

Atlanta

Atlanta, a flourishing city of the United States, capital of Georgia, is situated 1100 feet above sea-level, 294 miles NW. of Savannah, and 7 miles SE. of the Chattahoochee River. Seven railroads centre at it. Atlanta has an extensive and rapidly increasing trade in cotton, dry goods, horses and mules, and especially tobacco. Public buildings are the custom-house, state-house, opera-house, the Atlanta University for the education of coloured young men and women, Clark Theological School (coloured Methodist), and two medical colleges. In September 2, 1864, the city was captured by the Union troops under General Sherman, and the entire business portion destroyed by them on leaving it a month later. Since the restoration of peace, however, its prosperity has been uninterrupted and its growth rapid. Atlanta was settled in 1840; was incorporated as the village of Marthasville in 1842; as Atlanta, in 1847. Pop. (1850) 2572; (1870) 21,879; (1890) 65,533; (1900) 89,872.

Atlantic City

Atlantic City, a fashionable American health-resort, on a narrow, sandy island off the coast of New Jersey, 60 miles SE. of Philadelphia by rail. Pop. (1870) 1043; (1890) 13,055; (1900) 27,838.

Atlas

Atlas, the great mountain-system of Northwestern Africa, stretching north-eastward from Cape Nun in Morocco to Cape Bon in Tunis, a distance of 1400 miles. It is not properly a mountain-chain, but rather a very irregular mountainous mass of land, that attains its greatest height (13,000 feet) in Miltsin - 27 miles SE. of the city of Morocco, whilst in Algeria the elevation is only 7673 feet, in Tunis 4476, and in Tripoli 3200. The slopes on the north, west, and south are covered with vast forests of pine, oak, cork, white poplar, wild olive, etc. The valleys are well watered and capable of cultivation with great profit.

Atrato

Atra'to, a river of Colombia, rising on the Western Cordillera at an altitude of 10,560 feet, and running 305 miles northward through low swampy country, till it falls by several mouths, interrupted by bars, into the Gulf of Darien. It is navigable by steamers for fully 250 miles, being 750 to 1000 feet wide, and 8 to 70 feet deep. A route, surveyed by the United States government in 1871, proposed to connect the Atrato and the Jurador, flowing into the Pacific, by a canal 48 miles long.