happening?

William Guy and his companions were very soon informed. The cause of
the tumult was the appearance of an unknown animal, a terrible
quadruped, which dashed into the midst of the islanders, snapping at
and biting them indiscriminately, as it sprang at their throats with
a hoarse growling.

And yet the infuriated animal was alone, and might easily have been
killed by stones or arrows. Why then did a crowd of savages manifest
such abject terror? Why did they take to flight? Why did they appear
incapable of defending themselves against this one beast?

The animal was white, and the sight of it had produced the
phenomenon previously observed, that inexplicable terror of
whiteness common to all the natives of Tsalal.

To their extreme surprise, William Guy and hie companions recognized
the strange animal as the dog Tiger.

Yes! Tiger had escaped from the crumbling mass of the hill and
betaken himself to the interior of the island, whence he had
returned to Klock-Klock, to spread terror among the natives. But
Tiger was no mere phantom foe; he was the most dangerous and deadly
of enemies, for the poor animal was mad, and his fangs were fatal!

This was the reason why the greater part of the Tsalal islanders
took to flight, headed by their chief, Too-Wit, and the Wampos, who
are the leading personages of Klock-Klock. It was under these
extraordinary circumstances that they abandoned their island,
whither they were destined never to return.

Although the boats carried off the bulk of the population, a
considerable number still remained on Tsalal, having no means of
escape, and their fate accomplished itself quickly. Several natives
who were bitten by Tiger developed hydrophobia rapidly, and attacked
the others. Fearful scenes ensued, and are briefly to be summed up
in one dismal statement. The bones we had seen in or near Klock-Klock
were those of the poor savages, which had lain there bleaching for
eleven years!

The poor dog had died after he had done his fell work, in a corner
on the beach, where Dirk Peters found his skeleton and the collar
bearing the name of Arthur Pym.

Then, after those natives who could not escape from the island had
all perished in the manner described, William Guy, Patterson,
Trinkle, Covin, Forbes, and Sexton ventured to come out of the
labyrinth, where they were on the verge of death by starvation.

What sort of existence was that of the seven survivors of the
expedition dur