Hans was employed on the expedition as one of the Inuit dog-drivers on board Discovery. The Alert and Discovery spent three days at Proven, Greenland, between 19 and 21 July 1875 in order to collect the dog-drivers. The official report stated that ‘All speak in the highest terms of Hans, the Esquimaux, who was untiring in his exertions with the dog-sledge, and in procuring game’. Indeed, he played an important role in helping to contain the outbreak of scurvy.