Probably more than a hundred affluents of various capacities, deriving their waters from the amphitheater of snow-clad mountains which rise on all sides from 3000 to 4000 feet above its surface, contribute their quota to supply this Lake.

The largest of these affluents is the Upper Truckee River, which falls into its southern extremity.
The only outlet to the Lake is the Truckee River, which carries the surplus waters from a point on its northwestern shore out through a magnificent mountain gorge, thence northeast, through the arid plains of Nevada, into Pyramid Lake.

This river in its tortuous course runs a distance of over one hundred miles, and for about seventy miles (from Truckee to Wadsworth) the Central Pacific Railroad follows its windings.

According to the railroad surveys, this river makes the following descent: _Fall_ _Distance Fall per Mile_ Lake Tahoe to Truckee 15 Miles 401 Ft.

28.64 Ft Truckee to Boca 8 " 313 " 39.12 " Boca to State Line 11 " 395 " 35.91 " State Line to Verdi 5 " 211 " 42.21 " Verdi to Reno 11 " 420 " 38.18 " Reno to Vista 8 " 103 " 12.87 " Vista to Clark's 12 " 141 " 11.75 " Clark's to Wadsworth 15 " 186 " 12.40 " Wadsworth to Pyramid Lake 18[1] " 187[1] " 10.39 " ______ _______ _______ Lake Tahoe to Pyramid Lake 103 " 2357 " 23.11 " [Footnote 1: The elevation of Pyramid Lake above the sea-level has never, as far as we know, been accurately determined.
Henry Gannet, in his _Lists of Elevation_ (4th ed., Washington, 1877, p.