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tions at least as probable and well-sustained as Mr. Dole's, and more consistent with the spelling of the word. We must therefore regretfully conclude that the origin of the word is not yet settled.

While the matter is under discussion I may point out further that Mr. Dole is in error in giving the local pronunciation of the word as "bato, placing the accent upon the long final syllable." The pronunciation that Mr. Dole refers to is really bito—like bite-o, with accent on the first syllable and long final o. It is interesting to observe that the form Batardeau is also in common use locally in these Provinces.

In Clapin's "Dictionnaire Canadien-Française," aboiteaux is given, without derivation, but is wrongly defined, apparently on authority of a statement in one of Abbé Casgrain's works, as exactly equivalent to dikes. It is worth noticing that the use of the word by the French, and in early times by the Acadians (as shown by Dièreville) was aboteau, while aboiteau, with the i, is more recent; furthermore, the form aboideau, with a d instead of a t, seems not to be used by the French, but only by the English.

The existence of slavery in the maritime provinces in the early part of the present century is a fact that is fairly well known. Two papers have lately appeared in print, however, in which much additional light is thrown upon what is confessedly a dark chapter of our early history. One of these an exceedingly valuable paper, entitled "The Loyalists and Slavery in New Brunswick" is from the pen of Dr. I. Allen Jack of St. John. The other, an equally admirable