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 Corspany, for a six months' yachting excursion in the Mediterranean, 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 4ight, altered the painting of her funnel and boats, threw overboard a few belongings of the vessel with the ' Ferret's ' name on them, to suggeat 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 the vessel'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 aea,and get the premium for insurance, and to "get rid of" any, officer who might turn out inconvenient. Henderson and Walker appear to be two of the most audacious, though fortunately not the most successful, rascals of the age'. It is not easy to guard the secret of a ship's real origin and name. There are lynx. eyes in every British port, and wonderful memories for everything marin e.
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