Sparse vegetation inland supported `` about six hundred sheep , many goats , a few cows & horses '' , and large numbers of guineafowl imported from the Cape Verde islands , as well as rats , mice and land crabs ; he agreed with the saying attributed to the people of St Helena that `` We know we live on a rock , but the poor people at Ascension live on a cinder '' .
Sparse vegetation inland supported `` about six hundred sheep , many goats , a few cows & horses '' , and large numbers of guineafowl imported from the Cape Verde islands , as well as rats , mice and land crabs .