WINTER LIFE IN SIBERIA.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume III, Issue 158, 12 May 1876, Page 14

WINTER LIFE IN SIBERIA.

— *+ — A letter from Siberia says :—": — " Our dinner party in the evening — and it was really a dinner party — was extremely merry. Each one laid his stores under contribution. Some brought out frozen bread, others frozen caviare, others still frozen preserves, others again sausages which could not be bent even if put against the knee and pulled with all the strength of both arms. Can yoif imagine without laughing the appearance presented of seven "half -famished people sitting at table with thirty different dishes before them, and unable to touch one of them except at the risk of breaking their teeth ? Nothing could be done except to wait patiently for the dishes to be thawed. Gradually, as each article of food softeflr , faces brighten, and when at last a knife entered one of the dishes there were shouts of triumph, which announced the beginning of the meal. At the close cf the meal we had some excellent fruit, which had been kept frozen. Throughout Siberia, as soon as very cold weather sets in, all f rait is placed out of doors with a northern exposure, that the sun may never touch them. They are frozen through and through, and retain their flavor as completely as if just plucked from the tree. When placed upon the table they are as hard as wood, and when they fall accidentally upon the floor they make the same noise as a wooden ball would do. The heat of the dining-room gradually softens them, and they resume their original form. When eating s»me game one day, I, out of curiosity, asked how long it had been killed. I was told, ' Over two months ago. 1 When cold weather sets in, nearly every butcher kills all the meat he requires during the winter. Fish become so solid that in all the markets they are seen leaning against the walls on their tails, no matter what their length or weight may be,"