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 Sao 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 [Greek: Kaktos] 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 [v.04 p.0925] beautiful flowers, and
are now so popular in our gardens that the name has become familiar. As
applied by Linnaeus, the name _Cactus_ is almost conterminous with what is
now regarded as the natural order Cactaceae, which embraces several modern
genera. It is one of the few Linnaean generic terms which have been
entirely set aside by the names adopted for the modern divisions of the
group.

[Illustration: FIG. 1.--Prickly Pear (_Opuntia vulgaris_). 1, Flower
reduced; 2, Same in vertical section; 3, Flattened branch much reduced; 4,
Horizontal plan of arrangement of flower.]

The _Cacti_ may be described in general terms as plants having a woody
axis, overlaid with thick masses of cellular tissue for