JUMNA, river, northern India. Rising in the Himalayas in Tehri state, about 5 m. N. of the Jamnotri hot springs, in 31° 3' N. and 78° 30' E., the stream first flows south, then south-west, and afterwards due south, receiving several small tributaries in its course. It afterwards turns sharply to the west and is joined by the large river Tons from the north. The Jumna here emerges from the Himalayas into the valley of the Dun, and flows south west, dividing the Kiarda Dun on the west from the Dehra Dun on the east. It then, at the 95th mile of its course, forces its way through the Siwalik hills, and debouches upon the plains of India at Fyzabad in Saharanpur district. By this time a large river, it gives off, near Fyzabad, the eastern and western Jumna canals. From Fyzabad the river flows for 65 m. in a south-south-west direction, receiving the Maskarra stream from the east. Near Bidliauli, in Muzaffarnagar district, it turns due S. for 8o m. to Delhi city, thence south-east for 27 m. to near Dankaur, receiving the waters of the Hindan river on the east. From Dankaur it resumes its southerly course for Ioo m. to Mahaban near Muttra, where it turns east for nearly 200 m., passing the towns of Agra, Ferozabad and Etawah, receiving on its left bank the Karwan nadi, and on its right the Banganga (Utanghan). From Etawah it flows 140 m. S.E. to Hamirpur, being joined by the Sengar on its north bank, and on the south by the great river Chambal (65o m. long) from the west, and by the Sind. From Hamirpur, the Jumna flows nearly due east, until it enters Allahabad district and passes Allahabad city, below which it falls into the Ganges in 25° 25' N. and 81° 55' E. In this last part of its course it receives the waters of the Betwa and the Ken. Where the Jumna and the Ganges unite is the prayag, or place of pilgrimage for devout Hindus (see GANGES ) .
The Jumna, after issuing from the hills, has a longer course through the United Provinces than the Ganges, but is not so large nor so important; and above Agra in the hot season it dwindles to a small stream. This is no doubt partly caused by the eastern and western Jumna canals, of which the former ir rigates nearly 400,000 acres in the United Provinces; while the latter serves 55,000 acres in the Punjab. The headworks of the
two canals are situated near the point where the river issues from the Siwaliks.
The traffic on the Jumna, which is carried in barges, is not large. Its waters are clear and blue, while those of the Ganges are yellow and muddy; the difference between the streams can be discerned for some distance below the point at which they unite. Its banks are high and rugged, as it traverses the extreme edge of the alluvial plain of Hindustan, and in the latter part of its course almost touches the Bundelkhand offshoots of the Vindhya moun tains.
The Jumna at its source near Jamnotri is 10,849 ft. above the sea-level; in the next 16 m. it falls at the rate of 314 ft. in a mile. The catchment area of the river is 118,000 sq.m. The Jumna is crossed by railway bridges at Delhi, Muttra, Agra and Allahabad, while bridges of boats are stationed at many places. JUMPING, an athletic sport practised from the earliest times. Leaping to the music of lutes formed a part of the pen tathlon, or quintuple games, at the ancient Olympic games. The Greek chroniclers record that the athlete Phayllus jumped a dis tance of 5o Olympian feet, but owing to the different conditions, it is impossible to institute comparisons with modern records. It must be remembered that the Greeks used halteres or weights to assist their jumping powers (see GAMES, CLASSICAL) . The three kinds of jumping now standardized as championship events throughout the world, and which are included in the programme of the modern Olympic games, are the running long jump, the running high jump and the hop, step and jump. The technique of jumping has improved amazingly in the last 10o years. When Donald Walker wrote his classical book of Manly Exercises in 1834, he stated of the long jump that "on level ground loft. is a first-rate leap; 21 ft. is extraordinary and 22ft. is very rarely accomplished." And of the high jump that "a good high leaper will clear 5f t., a first-rate one 51f t., and an extraordinary one 6ft." In 1874, J. Larne, Ireland, succeeded in jumping 23ft.