When Talatama died he had no sons. Talaihaapepe seemed to be the most straightforward one to succeed him, but he himself saw it as a bad omen to break the tradition from father to son. Now when Talaihaapepe had been a boy (some say he was still a boy at that time) he had a doll, made of
tou wood, called Tamatou. This doll was declared the son of Talatama and installed with all the pomp and splendour of a Tui Tonga, even a queen was assigned to him, and he was named Tui-Tonga-nui-(ko-e)-tama-tou (Great Tonga king (that is) tou person). Three years later Talaihaapepe declared that the king, Tamatou, had died and would be buried in a vault, while his wife was supposed to have been pregnant and born a son. This son, Talatama's grandson, would succeed as the 14th Tui Tonga. Needless to say that this was Talaihaapepe himself. ==Notes==