Direct Spanish rule over the area having been established, Ovando founded a settlement not far from the coast (west of Etang Saumâtre), ironically named ''Santa Maria de la Paz Verdadera'', which would be abandoned several years later. Not long thereafter, Ovando founded ''Santa Maria del Puerto''. The latter was first burned by French explorers in 1535, then again in 1592 by the English. These assaults proved to be too much for the Spanish colonial administration, and in 1606, it decided to abandon the region.