BROACH

or Baboach, a ruinous town in Guzerat, Hindu stan, on the Nerbuddah. It contains a Hindu hospital for sick and infirm beasts, birds, and insects, which has considerable endowments in land, and accommodates not only ftniTwula considered sacred by the Hindus, such as monkeys, peacocks, ., but horses, dogs, and cats: it has also, in littie boxes, an a ortment of lice and fleas. These animals are fed only on vegetable food, and are generally in a miserable condition. Near Broach is the celebrated banian-tree, which has been renowned ever since the first arrival of the Portuguese in India^ and which, according to the natives, was capable of sheltering 10,000 horsemen under its shade. Part of it has been washed away by the river, but enough yet remains to make it one of the noblest groves in the world. The town was taken by storm by the British in 1772, and with the district, ceded to them by treaty with Sdndiah in 1803. It carries on a considerable trade in raw cotton, grain, and seeds,.with Bombay and Surat. Pop. 33,000. BROACH-TO, to incline suddenly to windward of the ship's course when she sails witii a large wind; or, when she sails directiy before the wind, to deviate from her line of course with such rapidity as to bring her side to windward, and expose her to the danger of oversetting. The masts act Uke levers on the ship, sideways, so as to overturn her, tmle she is relieved by the rending of the sails, or the carrying away of the masts.