The ship was forced to anchor offshore to await the tide, but within the space of two hours, they were once again firmly attached to the shore. With the most perilous part of the trip now behind them, Georgiana breathed a great sigh of relief, and more than once mentioned how happy she was to be again looking upon dry land. The ship had tied up along an enormous sea-wall; Elizabeth reckoned it must be taller again by half than the Cobb at Lyme Regis, and, unlike the Cobb, was a modern construction of hewn stone. Mr. Darcy explained to the ladies that they had been most fortunate in the height of the tide, as, had it been lower, all passengers and their goods must have been carried ashore in small boats. It was impossible to conjecture how their horses and carriages would have been so conveyed, but that, fortunately, was not necessary.

The ship, having reached the dock and tied up, the passengers were forced to wait to disembark whilst the French customs-men boarded and inspected its cargoes, animate and otherwise. Unlike the orderly English officers, the French agents were in various bits and pieces of uniform and rag-tag cloathing, most of which had not seen the effects of soap and water during the entirety of its existence. The men were like-wise unshaven, dirty, and gratuitously unpleasant. The gangplank had barely been secured when the mob of customs-men hastened aboard; the scene was immediately one of complete confusion: every manner of bag, trunk, portmanteau, bundle, and parcel was strewn about the deck, no article secure from being torn open and having its contents disgorged and trampled. It was the habit of the inspectors of France to throw all of the baggage onto the landing and empty the contents of each trunk onto the ground; some portion of the contents would then be jumbled back into the case without regard to order or any débris that happened to be conveniently near-by through the unwelcome efforts of the porters, distinguished from the others assembled on the quay-side by the wearing of striped shirts, gathering at the dock for the purpose of assaulting their baggage. As soon as the items had been at least partially restored to their original container, these men carried the trunks away, up the stairs of the landing without the formality of having been asked, or taking any trouble to determine their ownership. The dérangement might have been considered farcical, but was prevented from being so out of concern for the uncertain fate of one’s own belongings. The entire performance was carried on to the amusement of a large crowd of people on the top parts of the wall, who were alternately waving or shouting to anyone and everyone who happened to look up amidst the chaos on the landing.