GRAIITS (in English, gates or passes) are two converging ranges of mountains, which run parallel with the e. and w. coasts of the peninsula of Hindustan, and hence known as the Eastern and Western Ghauts.-1. The EaStern Gliauts extend, with an average height of 1500 ft. from the vicinity of Balasore, in lat. 21° 30' n., a little n. of the Mahanadi, to within 20 in. of Cape Comorin. Before joining the kindred ridge at this last-mentioned point, they send forth, about 36 m. to the n. of Madras, a common spur, as it were, of both ranges, which reaches the other range to the n. of the gap of Palghatcheri. To the s. of the departure of this connecting chain, the Eastern Ghauts become less continuous and distinct. Moreover, they are nowhere a water-shed on any considerable scale, being penetrated and crossed by nearly all the drainage of the interior. —2. The Western Ghauts stretch from the s. side of the Tapti, about the same latitude as Balasore, to their junction with the kindred ridge, at a distance of 20 m. from Cape Comorin, or rather, in fact, to cape Comorin itself. Though they are generally far more continuous and distinct than the Ghauts Eastern, yet they are sharply divided by the gap of Palghatcheri, 16 m. broad—the northern section measuring 800 m. in length,
and the southern 200. Their general elevation appears to vary from about 4,000 ft. to fully 7,000. The peak of Dodabetta in that portion of the Western Ghauts known as the Neilgherries, is said to be 8,760 ft.. above the level of the sea. The opposite faces of these mountains differ very remarkably from each other. Landward, there is a gradual slope to the table-land of the Deccan; seaward, almost perpendicular precipices, speaking generally, sink at once nearly to the level of the sea, at a distance from it ranging from 40 to 70 m., but at one place approaching within 6 miles. From this peculiarity, aggra vated, as it is, by the incredibly heavy rains which the s.w. monsoon dashes against the lofty barrier before it, the maritime strip, more particularly towards the s., presents that singular feature of the country which is known as the "Backwaters." See Cocitix. The Western Ghauts are a water-shed, for not a single stream of any magnitude finds its way through them.