B 11 E 



457 



B R E 



and have furnished the celebrated > ith the 



subject of one of his finest paint i I is a 



large well-built town, anil cont . 

 some and regular streets ; but the greater part are 

 narrow, winding, and inconveniently contrived. Itis 

 divided into two parts, one < I wlurh is called the Cote 

 du Iirn-1, and the other tl; !iccourr<nice,be- 



which there is no communication but by boats. 

 It has two parish churches, a governor, a board of ad- 

 miralty, and a marine seminary. It is justly consider- 

 ed ;i the capital of the French marine ; and its pub- 

 lic buildings, and objects of curiosity, are almost all 

 connected with naval occupations. Those which 

 are most deterring ot notice, are its barracks, maga- 

 rope-walktf sail-cloth manufactories, forges 

 and fmindery, the lodging of the galley slaves, the 

 hospital ; the theatre, which is small but elegant ; 

 the arsenal, an immense and superb structure ; the 

 walk, called If Court d' Ajelor dc la reunion, where 

 it was intended that a fine statue of Neptune should 

 be erected ; the dock-yard, which is well construct- 

 ed, but which foreigners, and even Frenchmen them- 

 selves, are very rarely permitted to inspect ; and the 

 quay, which, on one side of the pott, is above a mile 

 in length, and 200 paces in breadth, covered with 

 Storehouses nearly throughout the whole of its ex- 

 tent. But it is principally famous for its excellent 

 road and harbour, which are capable of containing 

 .500 ships of war, in an anchorage of 8, 10, and lo 

 fathoms at low water ; and which, next to those of 

 Toulon, are the safest and most spacious on the whole 

 French coast. The entrance, which is from the south- 

 west, is a very narrow and difficult passage ; and 

 hence it has received the name of the Gullet. It 

 is guarded by a castle on the side next the sea, and 

 on the land side by a large ditch and other strong 

 fortifications. Near this entrance is a flying bridge, 

 or a kind of chest capable of containing five or six 

 persons, suspended by a cable and pulleys, and drawn 

 to either side by a rope, which moves upon a cylin- 

 der. Besides the commerce connected with marine 

 armaments, the town of Brest has a considerable 

 trade in wines and brandy, and carries on a fishery 

 in sardines, mackeral, and other fish. There are 

 two fairs held at Brest on the two first days of each 

 month, at which cattle, skins, linen cloths, and other 

 articles of merchandise, are sold. At spring titles it 

 is high water in the port at 3 h 33' 30" ; but without 

 the gullet, the tides are ^thsofan hour earlier. The 

 population of Brest is 26,000. Its distance from Paris 

 is 125 leagues, from Amsterdam 180, from Bour- 

 deaux 100, from Havre 90, from Marseilles 205, 

 from Rochelle 75, from Toulon 212, from Cadiz 300, 

 .from Lyons 1.6.5 ; and its N. Lat. 48 23', W. Long. 

 4 30'. See Tynna's Almanack du Commerce pour 

 1811, p. 610. (q) 



BRETON, or CAPE BRETON, an island lying near 

 the east coast of North America, between 45 and 

 47 North Lat., and between 50 and 60 West 

 Long, from London. With the islands Newfound- 

 land and St John, it forms the boundaries of the en- 

 trance into the Gulf of St Lawrence ; and a narrow 

 passage of about four leagues in length, and hdfa 

 league in breadth, named the GutolCauso, separates 

 it from the eastern extremity of Nova Scotia. It is 



VOL. IV. I'AHT II, 



' .iin.lr-i! n-.ilf in length, and sixty in breadth, 

 but .1 ; for it is so much inter- 



:;iat it ha the ap- 



ut a ou.i. :.; and it.; two princi- 



pal parts are joined by a me-. .t land not nvin: than 

 a hundred paces in length. It was discovered 

 about the year 1500 by the Normans and Bretons, 

 who navigated these seas ; and being supposed to be 

 a part of the continent, .it was named Cape Breton, 

 which name has been absurdly retained. The French 

 took possession of it in 1713, and at a great cxpence 

 erected Fort Dauphin, which they made their princi- 

 pal settlement ; but the harbour having been found 

 to be of very difficult access, it was abandoned, and 

 Fort Louisbourg was erected in 1720, the fortifica- 

 tion of which is said to have cost them not less than 

 one and a half millions sterling. All the harbours of 

 the island are open to the east and south : the north 

 coast is elevated, and almost inaccessible. The har- 

 bour of Louisbourg, once among the best in North 

 America, is on the eastern coast. It extends into 

 country four leagues, in a winding direction, and 

 contains good anchorage, being in all phecs at least 

 seven fathoms deep. Its entrance, formed by two 

 small islands, is four hundred yards wide ; and by 

 means of Cape Lorembic in its vicinity, is discover- 

 able by ships at a considerable distance. 



Owing to the number of lakes which overspread 

 one half of the island, and are frozen the greater part 

 of the year, and to the extensive forests which cover 

 the higher grounds, and intercept the rays of the 

 sun, the climate is cold and damp. The soil, which 

 is generally swampy, and covered with a light kind of 

 moss, is but ill adapted for cultivation : On the lands, 

 however, towards the south, considerable quantities 

 of corn, hemp, and flax, are raised ; and the island at 

 present abounds with fine hard wood, and excellent 

 timber. 



While the French possessed this island, the number 

 of its inhabitants gradually increased to four thousand, 

 who were composed partly of Indians, and partly of 

 ruined adventurers from Europe. They established 

 themselves on all those parts of the coast where they 

 found a proper beach for drying cod, which became 

 the chief object of their attention. As the soil wa , 

 unfit for agriculture, they did little more than culti- 

 vate_ a few pot herbs for their own sustenance ; and 

 the scantinessof the pasture prevented thein from rear- 

 ing cattle. Although the island was covered with 

 forests before it was inhabited, the wood was chiefly 

 used for fuel, and very little timber was exported. 

 An inconsiderable fur trade was carried on in the ex- 

 port of the skins of elks, bears, otters, foxes, and 

 other wild animals. Greater advantages might I) 

 been derived from the coal mines, which abound in 

 the island, and which could have been wrought at 

 little expence, as the coal lies in a horizontal direc- 

 tion, not more than seven or eight feet below 

 surface. But notwithstanding the great demand for 

 that article in New England, these valuable mines 

 were wrought only for the purpose of supplying with 

 ballast the ships which sailed to the French West 

 India islands. The attention of the inhabitants was 

 chiefly directed to the fisheries; the value of wh:. 

 while the island was in possession of the French, ha- 

 3 M 





