Shortly after his arrival, the viceroy received a message from the governor of New Mexico that three Frenchmen from the French colony in the Seno Mexicano (Texas) had arrived in New Mexico. The viceroy ordered General Alonso de León-González, the governor of Coahuila, to take a detachment of soldiers, a geographer and an interpreter to march to the coast to confront the French. After many days march through desert, the governor arrived in the Bay of San Bernardo, or Espiritu Santo, where he found the French in the process of constructing a fort, but no signs of the French settlers. Hearing from friendly Indians that five of them were with a neighboring tribe in search of workmen, Alonso de León-González sent a detachment to capture them, and after several days the force returned with two of the French adventurers, Jacques Grollet and Jean L'Archeveque, the others having fled. The French held five Spanish prisoners, two of which the Spanish force was able to free. From these ex-prisoners, the governor León-González learned that the French were very interested in colonizing this region.