The party who had brought me to this remote spot were of an entirely different race from those among whom I now found myself, and the fact that we were making our way toward what was obviously the aristocratic part of the town, coupled with the expressive conversation carried on by the leader of my custodians with three or four individuals who had joined us, led me to surmise--although of course I did not understand a word of what was said--that I had been brought up the river as a peace- offering or something of that sort, which conclusion was again the reverse of reassuring.