the northeast, south of the Sanaga River. They were under pressure from the migrating Vute, Mbum, Babouti, and Gbaya, who were themselves fleeing the Fulbe (Fula). The Beti-Pahuin were more militarily advanced than the natives they encountered, and they easily subdued and assimilated these peoples or else pushed them away, as with the Ngumba and Mabea, descendants of the Maka and Njem, who had traveled southwest toward the coast when the Beti-Pahuin had first encountered them a century earlier north of the Lom River. The Beti-Pahuin may have practiced cannibalism at this time, as well. Once across the Sanaga, in present-day East and Centre Provinces, the various tribal groups settled individually in family groups, or clans. The Ntumu, Fang, and Mvae moved toward the Dja valley and into present-day Gabon while the Bulu travelled west along the Nyong to their present territory. The Beti formed the final wave. European contacts Europeans knew the entire western coast of the present-day South Province since Portuguese ships first explored it in 1472. The Portuguese set up trade with the natives, collecting particularly pepper, ivory, kola nuts, and slaves. Other Europeans followed the Portuguese, and the Dutch became the most active by the 17th century. Minor trading centers emerged, including Kribi and Campo. Trade was carried out on the Europeans' ships, allowing the coastal tribes to set themselves up as go-betweens, finding slaves from the interior and distributing goods obtained from the Europeans. In fact, the Beti-Pahuin migration was still taking place during this time, allowing the Bulu to set themselves in such a position. The British supplanted the Dutch as the pre-eminent traders in the region by the 19th century. This was also the period of abolition, and the British sent elements of the Royal Navy in 1827 to the Cameroonian coast to prevent further slave trading. Merchants were instead encouraged to trade in items such as ivory, rubber, and palm kernels. Under the British, trade was conducted on land, and Europeans quickly set up bases along the coast. For example, a trading post was opened in Grand Batanga in 1828 to service the lower Cameroonian coastline. Slaves continued to be traded clandestinely. German administration Germany annexed the Cameroons in 1884, and for the first few years, they were only interested in the coastal area. Explorers under Governor Julius Von Soden were the first to penetrate into the southern interior when they pushed