The Sphinx

"The Sphinx" is a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe about a man who decides to visit a relative living near the Hudson River north of New York City for two weeks during a cholera epidemic in the city. An outbreak occurred during the summer of 1832. One day during this visit, the man is reading a book near the window overlooking a scenic view of the Hudson River. His attention is focused upon the cholera epidemic nevertheless. When he glances up from the pages of his novel, the man sees a ghastly sight on a distant hill at the edge of the far side of the river--there is an enormous creature larger than any oceangoing ship climbing down the embankment!