Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 306, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 December 1916 — Wood Is Staple Article of Diet in Parts of Siberia [ARTICLE]

Wood Is Staple Article of Diet in Parts of Siberia

Wood in a certain form is a common and constant article of food in all sections of Siberia where the Yakut lives. North of Verehoyansk, except in a few sheltered valleys, there is little food, aside from that afforded by fish, than that furnished by the larch. The natives eat it, however, because they like It. Even In sections where fish may be had, wood usually forms a part of the native’s evening meal, as the many cleanly-stripped larch logs near every hut testify. The natives strip off the thick layers immediately under the bark of a larch log and, chopping it fine, mix it with snow. It is then boiled in a kettle. Sometimes a bit of fish roe is added, and, in southern sections, cow’s milk or butter.