Barachois
A barachois is a term used in Atlantic Canada and Saint Pierre and Miquelon and Mauritius Island to describe a coastal lagoon partially or totally separated from the ocean by a sand or shingle bar. Salt water may enter the barachois during high tide.
The bar often is formed as a result of sediment deposited in the delta region of a river or - as is the case in Miquelon - by a tombolo.
The term comes from a Basque word, “barratxoa”, meaning “little bar”. The popular derivation from the French “barre à choir” is without historical merit.
In Newfoundland English, the word has become written and pronounced as barrasway.
The term is also used to describe the coves in the lagoon of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.
Examples
Dark Harbour, New Brunswick.
- Dark Harbour, Grand Manan, New Brunswick (photo).
- Barachois de Malbaie on the tip of the Gaspé Peninsula, fed by one of two Malbaie Rivers in Quebec and the Beattie, du Portage, and Murphy Rivers.
- Grand Barachois, Miquelon Island
- Grand-Barachois, in Westmorland County, New Brunswick
- Barachois Pond Provincial Park in western Newfoundland.
- Big Barasway and Little Barasway, communities on Newfoundland's Cape Shore
- Prince Edward Island National Park has several examples.
- Percival Bay, off the Northumberland Strait, is also known as the Big Barachois.
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