The Dutch introduced the first botanic gardens, which were located at Slave Island, Colombo, in order to cultivate European fruits and vegetables fulfil a cultural dietary imperative. However, the tropical lowlands of the island the Dutch held were not suitable for the fulfilment of such a cultural dietary imperative, so after the British took control in 1796, the gardens were abandoned. Frederick North, the first governor of Ceylon, set up his own private garden fruit and vegetable garden at Peliyagoda, supervised by Joseph Joinville, who was the Clerk for Natural History and Agriculture. And until he left in 1804, General MacDowell, the senior military officer, imported plants from the East India Company's botanical garden at Calcutta. But these efforts were modest in extent.