There is a particularly important building located near the Thames called the Custom House, and it is where merchants pay their duties for their goods and declare what merchandise they’d like to sell in England (De Saussure 84). It’s usually so crowded with merchants and captains of vessels that making your way in the building is typically an arduous task. Custom-house officers are tasked with vetting merchandise and are known for being skilled at what they do. De Saussure described the Custom-house officers to be “extraordinarily clever at discovering anything contraband” (De Saussure 84), and he said that he’s heard from somewhere that no other country has a similarly elaborate custom of vetting goods.
De Saussure, César “Letter III.” A Foreign View of England in the Reigns of Geroge I and George II, translated or edited by Madame van Muyden, 2019, p. 83