The Inspector

"The inspector of dark corners goes upriver"

I bought this automaton donkeys years ago from a "toymaker" called Robert Race.  He says he is the failed result of an expensive education (Eton), but he has a wonderful sense of humour.  If you turn the handle, the schoolboy paddles, the canoe bobs up and down, and the inspector brandishes his torch and briefcase.  I take this example to be a gentle dig at how the British Empire used to look at the rest of the world.  How the mighty are fallen!