Just after midnight on 28 August 1871, the vessel U.S.S. Polaris of the North Polar Expedition, led by C. F. Hall, sailed past a small, uncharted island in the middle of Kennedy Channel [Davis, 1876]. This narrow channel is one of several such marine passages and sounds located between Canada's Ellesmere Island and Greenland that combined together, form Nares Strait. Because of the dense fog at the time, the extent of the island could not be gauged. On the vessel's return voyage almost a year later, on 13 August 1872, the Polaris again passed this island. Expedition notes [e.g., Davis, 1876] reveal that the island was given the name Hans Island, or Hans Ø in Danish, in honor of Hans Hendrik (1834–1889) [see Hendrik, 1878], a Greenlander who assisted the expedition and four others to the region (led by E. K. Kane, 1853–1855; I. I. Hayes, 1860–1861; G. S. Nares, 1875–1876; and N. A. E. Nordenskjöld, 1883).