Later, the Qianlong emperor (1736-1796), fearing that local bandits would use the sulfur to make gunpowder, ordered that the forests around the sulfur springs be burned away to deny the bandits any hiding places.
乾隆年間，由於台灣有山賊據地為亂，朝廷擔心他們佔據礦場、製造火藥，便命水師放火燒掉噴氣孔附近的森林，使盜採者無所藏匿。