The Sphinx

In his short story The Sphinx Edgar Allan Poe tells the tale of a man who during the summer of 1832s cholera outbreak decides to spend two weeks with a relative who lives near the Hudson River north of New York City. During one of these visits the man is sitting next to a window with a book open enjoying the beautiful view of the Hudson River. Despite this he is concentrated on the cholera epidemic and when he looks up from the pages of his book he notices a horrifying sight: in the far-off hills a gigantic thing that is bigger than any oceangoing ship is coming down!