In the interim, however, tens of thousands fleeing the conflict or caught up in the battles were sold as slaves to European slave traders every year. One human stream led north to Loango, whose merchants, known as Vili (Mubires in the period) carried them primarily to merchants bound for North America and the Caribbean, and others were taken south to Luanda, where they were sold to Portuguese merchants bound for Brazil. By the end of the seventeenth century, several long wars and interventions by the now independent Counts of Soyo (who restyled themselves as Grand Princes) had brought an end to Kongo's golden age.