a maritime town of France, in lower Brittany, seated on the declivity of a hill on the side of its port, which is the largest in the kingdom, and will hold 500 ships at a time. There is an arsenal with stores, which was placed there on account of its nearness to the woods, mines of iron, and other things proper for the building of ships. It was entirely consumed by fire in 1744, which was an irreparable loss to France. The entrance into the port is guarded by a strong castle seated on a rock, which cannot be attempted on the sea side, because it is craggy, and is defended on the land side by a large ditch and other fortifications. The streets of Brest are very narrow, ill contrived, few in number, and have all a decent. A great quay surrounds this side of the port, which is above a mile in length, and 200 paces broad; and there are magazines on the quay full of all foreign merchandizes. On the other side of the port the fine church of Notre Dame is situated; and in a suburb, which is as big as half the city, there is a strong tower opposite to the castle, at the entrance of the port; there is also a great quay on this side, bordered with large magazines, partly within the rock, which has been cut away to enlarge the place. These are extended almost as far as the bottom of the harbour, where there are two docks very commodious for the building of large ships: the shops and houses of the workmen are all around them: the ropewalks are separated from the city by one of these docks. The entrance into the harbour is called the gul-let, and is a passage extremely difficult on account of the sunk rocks on both sides of the shore; but there are experienced pilots who carry ships in very safely. The English attempted to take possession of this harbour in 1694, but were disappointed. W. Long. 4. 26. N. Lat. 48. 23.

or Breffit, in architecture, a term sometimes used for the member of a column, more usually called torus. See Torus.

BREST-Summers, in timber buildings, are pieces in the outward thereof, into which the girders are framed: this, in the ground-floor, is called a cell; and, in the garret-floor, a beam.—As to their size, it is the same with that of girders. See Girders.