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Hello and welcome to the Explorers Podcast.

Today is Part 3 in our series on Teddy Roosevelt and the River of Doubt.

Last time we left our team at the headwaters of the River of Doubt,

which had been found five years earlier by Candido Rondone.

The Roosevelt Rondone scientific expedition was going to head down this mysterious river.

There were 22 people in the expedition, including Theodore Roosevelt, Candido Rondone,

Kermit Roosevelt, Naturalist George Cherry, Dr. Jose Cajezera, and 16 Camaradas,

the strong paddlers and porters who would guide the boats down the river.

There were also several dogs with the expedition.

The team had seven native canoes, the heaviest way in more than a ton.

The canoes were hard to steer, not very buoyant and easily swamped as the boats,

once loaded, sat only a couple of inches above the water line.

The men would make two rafts by lashing together two pairs of the less sea-worthy canoes.

These would carry the bulk of the expedition supplies, which included 50 days of rations.

The food, by the way, was packaged in these big heavy metal containers.

Each container weighed 27 pounds and held five meals.

The team had dozens of these, plus 75 US Army emergency rations.

The food in the containers varied, but included such things as dehydrated potatoes, onions, bread, rice, condensed milk,

bacon, chicken, dates, coffee, tea, and salt.

There were other essentials as well, such as matches and soap.

The expedition assumed that they would be able to hunt and fish on the journey down the river.

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