A fortress had been built at Paynaven, in what is now the Province of Pangasinan, from which the work of the missionaries spread southward, so that the northern towns were all organized before those in the south. It is not likely that this had anything to do with causing the Negritos to leave the northern part of the province, if indeed they ever occupied it, but it is true that to-day they inhabit only the mountainous region south of a line drawn through the middle of the province from east to west. The friar Martinez Zuniga, speaking of the fortress at Paynaven, said that in that day, the beginning of the last century, there was little need of it as a protection against the "infidel Indians" and blacks who were very few in number, and against whom a stockade of bamboo was sufficient. It might serve against the Moros [he continues], but happily the Zambales coast is but little exposed to the attacks of these pirates, who always seek easy anchorage. The pirates are, however, a constant menace and source of danger to the Zambal, who try to transport on rafts the precious woods of their mountains and to carry on commerce with Manila in their little boats. The Zambal are exposed to attack from the Moros in rounding the point at the entrance of Manila Bay, from which it results that the province is poor and has little commerce. [16] Everything in the history of the Zambal people and their present comparative unimportance goes to show that they were the most indolent and backward of the Malayan peoples. While they have never given the governing powers much trouble, yet they have not kept pace with the agricultural and commercial progress of the other people, and their territory has been so steadily encroached on from all sides by their more aggressive neighbors that their separate identity is seriously threatened. The rich valleys of Zambales have long attracted Ilokano immigrants, who have founded several important towns. The Zambal themselves, owing to lack of communication between their towns, have developed three separate dialects, none of which has ever been deemed worthy of study and publication, as have the other native dialects of the Philippines. A glance at the list of towns of Zambales with the prevailing dialect spoken in each, and in case of nearly equal division also the second most important dialect, will show to what extent Zambal as a distinct dialect is gradually disappearing: Dialects in Zambales Province Town Primary dialect Secondary dialect Olongapo Tagalog Subig Tagalog Castillejos Tagalog Ilokano San Marcelino Ilokano Tagalog San Antonio Ilokano San Narciso Ilokano San Felipe Ilokano Cabangan Zambal Botolan Zambal Iba Zambal Palauig Zambal