a strongly-fortified maritime town of France, capital of an arrondissement in the department of Finistere, in Lat. 48° 22', N. Long. 4° 32' W. It is believed by some authors that Brest is the ancient Britates Portus; by others that it is Gesercricates. Nothing definite, however, is known concerning the town till the year 1240, when it was ceded by the Comte de Leon to the first Duke of Bretagne. In 1372 Jean IV., Duke of Brittany, gave up the town and castle to the English, on condition that they should keep it for him during the war, and restore it when peace was proclaimed. On the death of Edward III. of England, Brest was made over to its original owner. When war was once more declared between France and England, an English garrison took possession of Brest, and repelled every attempt to dislodge it; but in 1397, Richard II. gave it up to the Duke of Bretagne, in consideration of a heavy ransom. In the following century it was again captured by the English, and once more retaken by the French. Finally, by the marriage of Louis XII. with Anne of Bretagne, Brest became an appanage of the French crown.

The advantages of its situation as a sea-port were first recognised by Richelieu, who in 1631 constructed a harbour, which soon became the station of the French navy. The entrance to the roadstead, called the Goulet, is about a mile in width; but the Mingan rock in the middle compels vessels to pass close under the formidable batteries which command it on either side. The roadstead itself is formed by the promontory of Finisterre on the north, and that of Quélern on the south. It is in some places three miles broad, and has an area of about 15 square leagues, so that all the fleets of France might ride in it in safety. It is defended on every side by batteries and forts erected under the personal superintendence of Vauban, and is believed to be utterly impregnable. The roadstead itself consists of numerous bays, formed by the embouchures of streams, one of which, the Châteaulin, is navigated by a steamer. Of these bays, the most interesting is that of Camaret, where the English squadron sent out in 1694 under Berkeley was miserably defeated, owing, it was said, to the treachery of some Englishman who gave timely warning to the French king of the intended expedition. Running up from the roadstead is a deep creek formed by the mouth of a small stream called the Penfeld, which serves as a basin to the dockyard, and separates Brest from its suburb La Recouvrance. The creek, though deep, is very narrow, and ships of war can only lie in it in single file. The dockyard is very extensive, and contains a sailwork, a shop shop, a ropery, a foundry, and seamen's barracks. The value of the stores in the dockyard and arsenal was estimated in 1839 at nearly L6,000,000 sterling. The victualling office is also very extensive. The Bagnes of Brest are the largest in France, and contain about 3000 convicts. Beyond the bagnes is the Hôpital de la Marine, an institution like Greenwich Hospital, containing 26 rooms, each with 53 beds. Brest itself is built on the top and sloping sides of a hill, in some places so steep that the ascent from the lower to the upper town is performed by flights of stairs. Despite its great advantages, Brest has little trade, and no manufacture worth specifying except that of glazed hats for seamen. There are a few fishermen engaged in the cod, pilchard, and mackerel fishing. There is also a little trade in grain. Pop. (1851) 36,500.