 The area around the lake was popular for parties including a grand ball that was held to celebrate the news of British victory in Waterloo.Ceylon's first botanical garden the Kew Gardens was opened in Slave Island in 1810 to cultivate seedlings provided by the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in London to be planted in Peradeniya Botanical Gardens.By the 19th century land reclamation for development began and the land area of the lake was reduced, pollution also began to increase.