Numerous dialects were lost during the depopulation of the Native peoples due to outbreaks of disease and the chaos of King Philip's War. Although afflicted by several epidemics caused by exposure to pathogens to which they had no previous exposure, the outbreak of leptospirosis in 1619 and a virulent smallpox epidemic in 1633 nearly cleared the land of Indians. The first outbreak hit the densely populated coastal areas with mortality rates as high as 90 per cent, but the latter epidemic had a broader impact. The epidemics opened the Massachusett speaking peoples to attacks from regional rivals, such as the Narragansett and Pennacook and traditional enemies such as the Tarratine and Mohawk, as well as removed any resistance to English settlement. The war caused many peoples to flee the area, and remnant populations regrouped, merging dialect communities and disparate peoples.