GHÄTS, or Ghauts (literally “the Landing Stairs” from the sea, or “Passes ”), two ranges of mountains extending along the eastern and western shores of the Indian peninsula. The Pastern Ghats run in’ fragmentary spurs and ranges down the Madras coast. They commence in the Orissa district of Balasor, pass southwards through Cuttack and Puri, enter the Madras presidency in Ganjâm, and sweep southwards through the districts of Vizagapatam, Godâvari, Nellore, Chengalpat, South Arcot, Trichinopoli, and Tinnevelly. They run at a distance of from 50 to 150 miles from the coast, except in Ganjâm and Vizagapatam, where in places they almost abut on the Bay of Bengal. Their geological formation is granite, with gneiss and mica slate, with clay slate, hornblende, and primitive limestone overlying. The average elevation is about 1500 feet, but several hills in Ganjâm are between 4000 and 5000 feet. The Western Ghats start from the north of the Tâpti valley, and run south through Khândesh, Nâsik, Tanna, Satara, Ratnagiri, Kanara, and Malabar, and the states of Cochin and Travancore, meeting the Eastern Ghâts at an angle near Cape Comorin. The range of the Western Ghâts extends uninterruptedly, with the exception of a gap or valley 20 miles across known as the Palghât gap. The length of the range is 800 miles from the Tâpti to the Palghât gap, and south of this about 200 miles to the extreme south of the peninsula. In many parts there is only a narrow low strip of coast between the hills and the shore; at one point they rise in magnificent precipices and headlands out of the ocean. The average elevation is 3000 feet, precipitous on the western side facing the sea, but with a more gradual slope on the east to the plains below. The highest peaks in the northern ...