"Beagle" sailed on to Charles Island. By chance, they were greeted by the Englishman Nicholas Lawson, acting Governor of Galápagos for the Republic of the Equator, who accompanied them up to the penal colony. It was said that tortoises differed in the shape of the shells from island to island, and Darwin noted Lawson's statement that on seeing a tortoise, he could "pronounce with certainty from which island it has been brought". Though Darwin remembered this later, he did not pay much attention at the time. However, he found a mockingbird and "fortunately happened to observe" that it differed from the Chatham Island specimen, so from then on, he carefully noted where mockingbirds had been caught. He industriously collected all the animals, plants, insects & reptiles, and speculated about finding "from future comparison to what district or 'centre of creation' the organized beings of this archipelago must be attached." At this stage, his thoughts reflected Lyell's rejection of transmutation of species.