a large town and port, originally a hamlet, in the parish of St Lawrence, in the Isle of Thanet, in Kent, seventy-three miles from London, and seventeen from Canterbury. It is situated in a pleasant valley on the shore, with extensive views of the sea from the North and South Foreland, and of the shipping in the Downs. It has owed its rise to the construction of a most costly pier, by which a harbour has been created, which serves as a refuge for ships in stormy weather. It is capable of containing 500 sail of vessels. The pier extends 800 feet into the sea, and its top, which is twenty-six feet broad, furnishes a fine promenade. A new inner harbour is in progress, and will speedily be opened. Ramsgate, like Margate, has become a favourite place of resort for sea-bathing; and though it has long been so, the number of visitors has vastly increased since the introduction of steam-vessels, by which passengers may in a few hours be conveyed to and from the metropolis. The accommodations for bathers are good, and there are abundance of hotels and lodging-houses to be procured at a moderate rate. There are a fine assembly-room, numerous libraries, and a handsome chapel, with meeting-houses for the various dissenting sects. It has some trade to the Baltic; and many of the lower classes are occupied as fishermen, pilots, and watermen. It is in the liberty of the cinque port of Sandwich. The population amounted in 1801 to 3110, in 1811 to 4222, in 1821 to 6031, and in 1831 to 7985.

RANTRUT, a deity worshipped by the Ramazins of Hindustan, where he has a celebrated temple at Onor. He is represented as more resembling a monkey than a man.