One hundred years ago
A very remarkable swindle has been exposed at Melbourne, by the Government of Victoria. An audacious person, of the name of Walker, engaged a year or two ago the steamship 'Ferret,' 346 tons, belonging to the Highland Railway Company, for a six months' yachting excursion in the Meditteranean, on behalf of a principal whom he called Smith, but whose real name is Henderson, and his wife, paying for the charter in a bill which was afterwards dishonoured. He took the ship through the Straits of Gibraltar, turned her round in the night, altered the painting of her funnel and boats, threw overboard a few belongings of the vessel with the 'Ferret's' name on them, to suggest her loss, changed her name, took her to Santos, and there bought a cargo of coffee with more bad paper, sold the coffee at the Cape — in the meantime thevessel's name had been again changed and at last put into Melbourne, under a false name, where the truth was detected. Worse still, it seems, by the code of signals arranged with confederates, that preparations had been made, in case of need, to burn the ship at sea and get the premium for insurance.
Spectator, 25 June 1881
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