Nothing can be imagined more harassing and destructive than this process of embarkation. For example, my people, as before mentioned, were dispersed in all directions round the neighbourhood, even to the distance of six or eight miles, by twos and threes, &c., so that they were under no control whatever. Meantime the guns, ammunition-waggons, &c., all dismounted and ready to put on board, remained exposed to all the weather on the pier. At daylight in the morning, according to orders, men and horses assembled there also, and remained--rain, hail, wind or snow (of all which we had plenty)--until dusk in the evening, when they were permitted to return to their billets for the night. Nothing could be more subversive of discipline and harassing to the men, or more ruinous to the horses; yet, from the system adopted by those who ruled the transport service, it could not well be avoided, since the vessels engaged were all schooners, sloops, &c.; and it was necessary, when any of these returned for a fresh cargo, that the embarkation should be as prompt as possible, not only for the more expeditiously getting the troops across, but because they were obliged to leave the harbour with the same tide, or remain twelve hours. These vessels did not go all to one place; thus my troop was landed by sixes and sevens at Dover, Sandwich, Deal, Ramsgate, &c., and then assembled at Canterbury. Webber Smith was our immediate commanding officer here; and Sir Denis Park, who commanded, occasionally rode down to see how things were going on, so that there was no getting out of the way, and our only relief was an occasional stroll about the muddy, dismal streets, lounging in some of the shops, &c. Thus time hung heavily on our hands. Hitchins had left us on the very first evening of our arrival at the Silver Lion, and we sadly missed his kind attentions--especially F., who, whilst I was at the pier, had no one to escort her about, and of course in such a place going alone was out of the question. I found a pleasing companion to while away time at the pier in the harbour-master, an old captain of the French navy, and a well-informed, gentlemanly person, from whom I picked up a good deal of information. I cannot omit noting the fact that a female bookseller here, whose _magazin_ we sometimes frequented, one day let out that she implicitly believed every one of the absurd lies respecting England contained in General Pelet’s book, and would hardly credit our contradiction of them.