Wolf meat was eaten several times during Vilhjalmur Stefansson's 1913 Arctic expedition, particularly during the summer, when wolves were fat. Natives in Transbaikalia reportedly ate wolf meat even when other food was plentiful. The consumption of wolf flesh and organs plays an important role in Asian folk medicine: in Mongolia, eating the meat and lungs of a wolf is said to alleviate colds, and sprinkling food with powdered wolf rectum is said to cure haemorroids. Some Japanese mountain people ate wolf meat to give them courage. Accounts on how wolf meat tastes vary greatly, with descriptions ranging from "tough", "gristly", "distasteful" and "smelly", to "somewhat chicken", and "very superior to lean venison".