This page has been validated.
924
CACCINI—CACTUS
  

the first pretender. Only a very few insignificant Carlists followed Cabrera’s example, and Don Carlos issued a proclamation declaring him a traitor and depriving him of all his honours and titles. Cabrera, who was ever afterwards regarded with contempt and execration by the Carlists, died in London on the 24th of May 1877. He did not receive much attention from the majority of his fellow-countrymen, who commonly said that his disloyalty to his old cause had proved more harmful to him than beneficial to the new state of things. A pension which had been granted to his widow was renounced by her in 1899 in aid of the Spanish treasury after the loss of the colonies.  (A. E. H.) 


CACCINI, GIULIO (1558–1615?), Italian musical composer, also known as Giulio Romano, but to be distinguished from the painter of that name, was born at Rome about 1558, and in 1578 entered the service of the grand duke of Tuscany at Florence. He collaborated with J. Peri in the early attempts at musical drama which were the ancestors of modern opera (Dafne, 1594, and Euridice, 1600), produced at Florence by the circle of musicians and amateurs which met at the houses of G. Bardi and Corsi. He also published in 1601 Le nuove musiche, a collection of songs which is of great importance in the history of singing as well as in that of the transition period of musical composition. He was a lyric composer rather than a dramatist like Peri, and the genuine beauty of his works makes them acceptable even at the present day.


CÁCERES, a province of western Spain, formed in 1833 of districts taken from Estremadura, and bounded on the N. by Salamanca and Ávila, E. by Toledo, S. by Badajoz, and W. by Portugal. Pop. (1900) 362,164; area, 7667 sq. m. Cáceres is the largest of Spanish provinces, after Badajoz, and one of the most thinly peopled, although the number of its inhabitants steadily increases. Except for the mountainous north, where the Sierra de Gata and the Sierra de Grédos mark respectively the boundaries of Salamanca and Ávila, and in the south-east, where there are several lower ranges, almost the entire surface is flat or undulating, with wide tracts of moorland and thin pasture. There is little forest and many districts suffer from drought. The whole province, except the extreme south, belongs to the basin of the river Tagus, which flows from east to west through the central districts, and is joined by several tributaries, notably the Alagon and Tietar, from the north, and the Salor and Almonte from the south. The climate is temperate except in summer, when hot east winds prevail. Fair quantities of grain and olives are raised, but as a stock-breeding province Cáceres ranks second only to Badajoz. In 1900 its flocks and herds numbered more than 1,000,000 head. It is famed for its sheep and pigs, and exports wool, hams and the red sausages called embutidos. Its mineral resources are comparatively insignificant. The total number of mines at work in 1903 was only nine; their output consisted of phosphates, with a small amount of zinc and tin. Brandy, leather and cork goods, and coarse woollen stuffs are manufactured in many of the towns, but the backwardness of education, the lack of good roads, and the general poverty retard the development of commerce. The more northerly of the two Madrid-Lisbon railways enters the province on the east; passes south of Plasencia, where it is joined by the railway from Salamanca, on the north; and reaches the Portuguese frontier at Valencia de Alcántara. This line is supplemented by a branch from Arroyo to the city of Cáceres, and thence southwards to Mérida in Badajoz. Here it meets the railways from Seville and Cordova. The principal towns of Cáceres are Cáceres (pop. 1900, 16,933); Alcántara (3248), famous for its Roman bridge; Plasencia (8208); Trujillo (12,512), and Valencia de Alcántara (9417). These are described in separate articles. Arroyo, or Arroyo del Puerco (7094), is an important agricultural market. (See also Estremadura.)


CÁCERES, the capital of the Spanish province of Cáceres, about 20 m. S. of the river Tagus, on the Cáceres-Mérida railway, and on a branch line which meets the more northerly of the two Madrid-Lisbon railways at Arroyo, 10 m. W. Pop. (1900) 16,933. Cáceres occupies a conspicuous eminence on a low ridge running east and west. At the highest point rises the lofty tower of San Mateo, a fine Gothic church, which overlooks the old town, with its ancient palaces and massive walls, gateways and towers. Many of the palaces, notably those of the provincial legislature, the dukes of Abrantes, and the counts of la Torre, are good examples of medieval domestic architecture. The monastery and college of the Jesuits, formerly one of the finest in Spain, has been secularized and converted into a hospital. In the modern town, built on lower ground beyond the walls, are the law courts, town-hall, schools and the palace of the bishops of Cória (pop. 3124), a town on the river Alagon. The industries of Cáceres include the manufacture of cork and leather goods, pottery and cloth. There is also a large trade in grain, oil, live-stock and phosphates from the neighbouring mines. The name of Cáceres is probably an adaptation of Los Alcázares, from the Moorish Alcázar, a tower or castle; but it is frequently connected with the neighbouring Castra Caecilia and Castra Servilia, two Roman camps on the Mérida-Salamanca road. The town is of Roman origin and probably stands on the site of Norba Caesarina. Several Roman inscriptions, statues and other remains have been discovered.


CACHAR, or Kachar, a district of British India, in the province of Eastern Bengal and Assam. It occupies the upper basin of the Surma or Barak river, and is bounded on three sides by lofty hills. Its area is 3769 sq. m. It is divided naturally between the plain and hills. The scenery is beautiful, the hills rising generally steeply and being clothed with forests, while the plain is relieved of monotony by small isolated undulations and by its rich vegetation. The Surma is the chief river, and its principal tributaries from the north are the Jiri and Jatinga, and from the south the Sonai and Daleswari. The climate is extremely moist. Several extensive fens, notably that of Chatla, which becomes lakes in time of flood, are characteristic of the plain. This is alluvial and bears heavy crops of rice, next to which in importance is tea. The industry connected with the latter crop employs large numbers of the population; manufacturing industries are otherwise slight. The Assam-Bengal railway serves the district, including the capital town of Silchar. The population of the district in 1901 was 455,593, and showed a large increase, owing in great part to immigration from the adjacent district of Sylhet. The plain is the most thickly populated part of the district; in the North Cachar Hills the population is sparse. About 66% of the population are Hindus and 29% Mahommedans. There are three administrative subdivisions of the district: Silchar, Hailakandi and North Cachar. The district takes name from its former rulers of the Kachari tribe, of whom the first to settle here did so early in the 18th century, after being driven out of the Assam valley in 1536, and from the North Cachar Hills in 1706, by the Ahoms. About the close of the 18th century the Burmans threatened to expel the Kachari raja and annex his territory; the British, however, intervened to prevent this, and on the death of the last raja without heir in 1830 they obtained the territory under treaty. A separate principality which had been established in the North Cachar Hills earlier in the century by a servant of the raja, and had been subsequently recognized as such, was taken over by the British in 1854 owing to the misconduct of its rulers. The southern part of the district was raided several times in the 19th century by the turbulent tribe of Lushais.


CACHOEIRA, an important inland town of Bahia, Brazil, on the Paraguassu river, about 48 m. from São Salvador, with which it is connected by river-boats. Pop. (1890) of the city, 12,607; of the municipality, 48,352. The Bahia Central railway starts from this point and extends S. of W. to Machado Portella, 161 m., and N. to Feira de Santa Anna, 28 m. Although badly situated on the lower levels of the river (52 ft. above sea-level) and subject to destructive floods, Cachoeira is one of the most thriving commercial and industrial centres in the state. It exports sugar and tobacco and is noted for its cigar and cotton factories.


CACTUS. This word, applied in the form of Κάκτος by the ancient Greeks to some prickly plant, was adopted by Linnaeus as the name of a group of curious succulent or fleshy-stemmed plants, most of them prickly and leafless, some of which produce