James left Cork on March 20 and travelled by Lismore, Clonmel, Kilkenny, and Kilcullen to Dublin, which he reached on the 24th. The hedges were lined by half-pike men, something between bandits and soldiers, and the whole journey was attended by rejoicing crowds as upon the first day from Kinsale. At Carlow, we are told, 'he was slabbered with the kisses of the rude country Irish gentlewomen, so that he was forced to beg to have them kept from him.' He entered Dublin on horseback, great preparations having been made for his reception. Troops lined the streets which were freshly gravelled, and stands were erected for musicians, who played loyal and joyful tunes. And so, amid the shouts of the populace and the roar of cannon, James reached the Castle, above which waved a flag with the legend 'Now or Never, Now and Forever.' All was fair to the eye, but Avaux had misgivings from the first. The King of England, he said, vacillated continually and often came to the wrong decision at last. He minded small things and neglected great ones, having so little foresight as to wish to leave Kinsale before the stores were landed. Of ten fat bullocks sent as a present to His Majesty at Cork, two were stolen on the way. Bands of plunderers were everywhere, and the newly raised troops, being unpaid, added to the confusion. Avaux reported that within one month of the King's landing over 5000 cattle were killed for the skin only, the bodies being left to rot unburied. A beast would be slaughtered to make a pair of brogues, sometimes the hide was used to boil part of the flesh in. Meanwhile the troops south of Dublin were not armed or even divided into regiments.[194] [Sidenote: Louis XIV.'s orders to Avaux.]