 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.For more than 50 years, the area that is today Port-au-Prince saw its population drop off drastically, when some buccaneers began to use it as a base, and Dutch merchants began to frequent it in search of leather, as game was abundant there.