"In my previous letter I described my arrival on this miserable island. All I can do is walk around the island or climb to its highest point (which is just a few feet above see level) and think. Or drink wine, but I put myself on rations. I still have enough to drink but nothing to eat and the hunger becomes unbearable. I tried to capture one of those seagulls that are flying around, but they are too fast for me. I tried to chew on some of the few weeds that grow here, but they taste foul and salty and are not edible, I am sure. I found a bit of timber and some sail-cloth, either from our ship or some other, I do not know. Everything here is too wet to make a fire, but I could build a bit of a shelter with it and I planted a pole with a piece of sail-cloth on the highest point. Ha, this is my realm, its flag is pure white and I call it Atlantis!
The days in Atlantis pass by. Slow, too slow, for the only thing that I can do here is to look out for ships, to wait and to think; the only things to think about are food and death. The time goes too fast, for I feel myself getting weaker every hour and I feel death coming closer. Now I realize that death is always coming closer with every hour you live, but here in Atlantis the mortality of man is all too obvious. However, I should not complain. Dum spiro, spero as they say, as long as I breath, there is hope and as long as there is wine, I live. Wine, the saviour of the seaman, or was it his greatest peril? It is getting dark now and the rain sets in once more. Goodbye, my letter, may you find a better place!"

"Never drink wine on am empty stomach, my father used to say. How true it is, and how empty my stomach. I start seeing strange things. Yesterday I found two mermaids sitting on a rock, but as I came close they vanished in thin air: nothing but illusions. As I woke up this morning I saw a column of light emerging from the rocks and stretching out to the sky. It turned out to be the sun which finally broke through the heavy clouds, for the first time since I came here! I think it is a sign of Jupiter. I believe that the gods are with me again. Today I was able to surprise a seagull with a bola made of wood and cloth. I had no other option than to eat, no, to devour it raw. I thank the gods that I still have my knife, which I have carried always with me. Afterwards I wondered if the bird had shortened or elongated my life. The hungry feeling went away, but it a sick feeling took its place. I sacrificed the liver for the for the gods, I hope that helped. At least I got myself a new feather and this letter is written in blood. Ha, I always wanted to do that!
At the moment I write this, the see is singing to me. Or is the singing caused by those mermaids that I have seen before? No wait, the mermaids did not exist, they were illusions. I start rambling, I better stop now."

"Things are getting worse. Wine is coming to its end, birds stay away from me and I think I got a fever. Am seeing more illusions and strange things. A fish who held up a torch. A large bird with a human head. It may have been a cloud, though. Do not know what is true anymore, what is illusion and what is not. This morning I saw the sunrise, the pale red sun climbing out of the ocean. It was beautiful yet unnerving at the same time. I bet I saw the horses of Helios chariot, carrying the sun through the skies. Where the sunlight touched the water I saw a palace. It was beautiful, with copper towers and marble-white walls, with windows surrounded by blue and green seaweed. Is this where those mermaids live, is it the palace of Neptune himself? I wanted to be there, to live there, away from this miserable island! But as I waded into the sea, the cold water brought me back to reality. Too bad, probably another illusion, although it seemed so real. It does not matter which world is real, anyway. If I am going to die in the real world or in a world of illusions, who cares? Pluto is waiting anyway and his hands come closer and closer."