The final result of all these researches is that the key to the “Ethiopian” inscriptions so frequently mentioned is to be sought, not in the Nubian but in the Begá language, and the future, we think, will prove the correctness of this supposition. Had Lepsius, during his long journey, been in a position to arrive at those conclusions whence he afterwards inferred the high historic and linguistic importance of the Begá language, he would have given it the first place in his philological researches. He would have devoted to it the thorough study which, as a matter of fact, he gave to the Nubian tongue. The fundamental and comprehensive manner in which he prosecuted this latter study is proved by the second part of the work mentioned above, which comprises the Nubian grammar and its rules of pronunciation, etymology and syntax, as well as reading exercises. These include the whole Gospel of St. Mark, the “Our Father,” and a series of Nubian songs, besides the lexicon and scheme of the Nubian dialects. Good old Achmet Abu Nabbut, a native of Derr, who was perfect master of two Nubian dialects, (the Kennez and Mahas), and first introduced Lepsius to the Nubian tongue, has been for months in my own service, and assures me that Lepsius was the only European who knew how to write the language of his native land. After Lepsius returned to Germany the Nubian ‘Ali wed Schaltuf, whom Count W. von Schlieffen had brought from Africa with him, also did him good service. The Nubian Grammar is certainly a useful work in itself, but the magnificent introduction which precedes it is of yet greater weight and higher significance. It may be described as the beautiful and enduring result of many years of faithful industry and difficult preparatory labor,[91] upon a wide domain of research which had been almost untrodden before.