noon
These moving highways , as they are sometimes correctly called , have first brought vegetation with them , as they will at last bring civilization . Thus , in its course of twenty-five hundred miles , the Niger has scattered along its banks the most important cities of Africa . '' `` By-the-way , '' put in Joe , `` that reminds me of what was said by an admirer of the goodness of Providence , who praised the foresight with which it had generally caused rivers to flow close to large cities ! '' At noon the Victoria was passing over a petty town , a mere assemblage of miserable huts , which once was Goa , a great capital . `` It was there , '' said the doctor , `` that Barth crossed the Niger , on his return from Timbuctoo . This is the river so famous in antiquity , the rival of the Nile , to which pagan superstition ascribed a celestial origin . Like the Nile , it has engaged the attention of geographers in all ages ; and like it , also , its exploration has cost the lives of many victims ; yes , even more of them than perished on account of the other . ''