The expedition was led by Alexander H. Rice, Jr., an American physician, geographer, geologist and explorer noted for his expeditions to the Amazon Basin.

"As a geographer and explorer Rice specialized in rivers.^[1][7] On seven expeditions, beginning in 1907, he explored 500,000 square miles (1,300,000 km²) of the Amazon Basin,^[7] mapping a number of previously unmapped rivers in the northwestern area of the Amazon Basin reaching into Colombia and Venezuela.

After his 1915 marriage, his socialite wife accompanied him on several expeditions to South America which were chronicled in the geographic literature and followed closely by the popular press. A 1916 expedition was the subject of a 1918 book by a colleague, William Thomas Councilman.^[8] During a 1920 trip, it was reported that "the party warded off an attack by savages and killed two cannibals"^[9]‍—‌​"scantily clad ... very ferocious and of large stature".^[10] (A subsequent headline read: "Explorer Rice Denies That He Was Eaten By Cannibals".^[11] In 1913, the Harvard College Class of 1898 Quindecennial Report had noted that, "An interesting feature of [Rice's] work in South America is frequent reports to the effect that he has been eaten by cannibals or has been a victim of the snakes which are said to be laying in wait for him all the time.")^{[12]" (Wikipedia article on Alexander H. Rice, Jr., accessed 10-2019).}

Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.