Editing Hamilton Hume (section)

===Early exploration===
When Hume was only 17 years of age, he began exploring the country beyond Sydney with his younger brother John and an Aboriginal boy as far to the south-west as Berrima, and soon developed into a good bushman. In 1817, Hume went on a journey with [[James Meehan (surveyor)|James Meehan]], the deputy surveyor-general, and [[Charles Throsby]] during which Lake Bathurst and the Goulburn Plains were sighted. Subsequently, in 1818, he went with [[John Joseph William Molesworth Oxley|John Oxley]] and Meehan to [[Jervis Bay]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article60446913 |title=HUME, THE EXPLORER. |newspaper=[[Illustrated Australian News for Home Readers]] |location=Melbourne |date=20 May 1873 |access-date=29 April 2012 |page=1 Supplement: SUPPLEMENT TO THE ILLUSTRATED AUSTRALIAN NEWS |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

In 1822, he journeyed with [[Alexander Berry]] down the south coast of New South Wales. He travelled as far south as the Clyde River, and inland nearly as far as [[Braidwood, New South Wales|Braidwood]].  Berry came to settle in the Shoalhaven, and in June 1822 he left Hume and a party of convicts to cut a 209-yard canal between the [[Shoalhaven River]] and the Crookhaven River to allow passage of boats into the Shoalhaven. This canal was Australia's first navigable canal, and the work was completed in 12 days. The canal today forms the main water flow of the Shoalhaven River.<ref>{{cite web |author=Shoalhaven City Council |title=On this day |url=http://www.shoalhaven.nsw.gov.au/region/History/OnThisDay.pdf |access-date=23 October 2009 |archive-date=17 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110617074908/http://www.shoalhaven.nsw.gov.au/region/History/OnThisDay.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>