Meanwhile, Ndzuani (or Johanna as it was known to the British) continued to serve as a way station for English merchants sailing to India and the Far East, as well as American whalers, although the British gradually abandoned it following their possession of Mauritius in 1814 and by the time the Suez Canal opened in 1869 there was no longer any significant supply trade at Ndzuani. Local commodities exported by the Comoros were, in addition to slaves, coconuts, timber, cattle and tortoiseshell. French settlers, French-owned companies, and wealthy Arab merchants established a plantation-based economy that used about one-third of the land for export crops. After its annexation, France converted Mayotte into a sugar plantation colony. The other islands were soon transformed as well, and the major crops of ylang-ylang, vanilla, cloves, perfume plants, coffee,cocoa beans, and sisal were introduced.