On March 20, three or four days before the desertion of Coleraine, Captain James Hamilton arrived in Lough Foyle with 1000_l._ in money, 480 barrels of powder, and arms for 2000 men. He brought also a commission as governor for Lundy, with orders to administer the oath of allegiance to William and Mary to all officers, civil and military. Lundy took it himself, but some thought not with enough publicity. Hamilton was, however, specially ordered to swear him on board ship in presence of the chief civil magistrate. If he refused the oath, the commission was not to be delivered. After this the new governor and thirty-five others made a public declaration, by which they bound themselves to resist the Irish enemy to the last. If the latter should prove too strong in the field, they undertook that 'the said Lord Blaney, Sir Arthur Rawdon, and their forces and all other Protestant friends shall be readily received into this city, and as much as in us lies be cherished and supported by us.' Lundy was, therefore, thoroughly bound both to King William and to the townsmen. He was instructed to spend the 1000_l._ in buying stores and in strengthening the works. The new sovereigns were proclaimed with great joy and solemnity, and Philips, the late provisional governor, was sent to England for supplies.[199] [Sidenote: James goes to Ulster.] [Sidenote: Skirmish at Cladyford.] James found it hard to believe that Londonderry would be a serious obstacle, and Melfort, whose eyes were fixed on Scotland, encouraged this view, but Avaux opposed it, fearing that, in the absence of Tyrconnel, the King would be entirely led by Melfort in the English interest. Tyrconnel also wished him to stay in Dublin, to devote his attention to forming a strong army, and not to dream of Great Britain until he had thoroughly secured Ireland. He decided at last to go North, and started on April 8, Pusignan having already gone thither with reinforcements for Hamilton. The King was accompanied by Avaux, Rosen, and Melfort, while Tyrconnel occupied himself with the new levies, whom there was no money to pay and whom he tried to get clothed at the expense of the officers. Before reaching Armagh, which had been stripped bare by the Protestants and afforded scant lodging for a court, James heard that Coleraine had been evacuated. At Charlemont, Pusignan, who said the country was like Arabia, found all military matters in a very bad way; and at Dungannon, James himself saw a regiment in which not a hundred muskets were fit to fire. Order after order was sent to expedite the arms from Cork, Kinsale, and Waterford, but when he returned to Dublin nothing had yet been done, nor were any tools being prepared for siege-work. The French ambassador was disgusted with everything he saw, but admired the wonderful hardiness of the Irish soldiers, who would swim a river thrice in a day's march, and with no sustenance but thin oatcake and bad water. Such beer as