It may therefore well be true that, as the Cook Islanders say, the great heke visited Rarotonga before coming to New Zealand, or even that some of the famous canoes were actually built on Rarotonga, before they left the bays shown in these photographs.

Mr. S. Percy Smith (Hawaiki, edn. 1904, p. 207 ff), describes a conversation he had with an old Rarotongan chief called Tamarua, during which he was told that several migrations were known in that district. ‘Once,’ said Tamarua, ‘there sailed from here a fleet of several canoes, the names of which were (in Rarotongan Maori) Te Arawa, Kura-aupo, Mata-atua, Toko-maru, Tainui and Taki-tumu. They all went away together as one fleet.’

Takitimu had a special place in this tradition. It was said to be the first canoe to arrive in Rarotonga with Tangiia's migration, and also the first to leave for New Zealand. Unlike the other canoes, it is said to have returned to Rarotonga after visiting New Zealand. Thus the Takitumu tribe of Rarotonga was founded.