A false contour can best be described as the prolongation, by means of burlap spread over a sort of wire trellis, of a ridge, promontory, or hill. It being desired to place a battery at the foot of a hill and at the same time conceal it from enemy observation—which included photographs taken from enemy airplanes—the Camouflage Corps would first of all erect a light wooden framework, something like that of a grape or rose arbor, but conforming to the general contour of the hill. Over this framework was stretched wire netting, which supported, in turn, a finer mesh of chicken-wire, into which were woven strips of burlap dyed so as to exactly match the color of the hill itself. The space beneath this burlap screen provided perfect concealment for anything up to a battery or a battalion, while so closely was nature imitated in the shaping and coloring of the false contour that photographs taken by enemy flyers would show only an innocent hillside, with not enough vegetation to provide cover for a sniper. The burlap used in the construction of these false contours was frequently “slashed,” after the fashion of foliage-drops in theatres, and was dyed in a great variety of shades, all of which were standardized and could be ordered by number. There were burlaps slashed and dyed to imitate ploughed fields, grain-fields, roads, lawns, quarries, water, rocks, and spring, summer, autumn, and winter foliage; in short, every phase of nature as found in the zone of operations. [Illustration: SUITS KNOWN AS CAGOULES. These suits are made of burlap and painted to match the vegetation and were frequently used by American snipers and raiding-parties.] [Illustration: THE WORK OF THE CAMOUFLAGE CORPS. As the enemy had this road under direct observation, traffic along it was concealed by means of burlap screens. _Photograph by Signal Corps, U. S. A._ An overhead road screen made of burlap strips and chicken wire. _Photograph by Signal Corps, U. S. A._]