CATAEA(Καταία, Arrian, Ind. 37), an island on the western limit of Carmania, about 12 miles from the shore. It was, according to Arrian, low and desert; a character which it still retains, according to Thevenot, though more modern authorities (cited by Vincent) speak of its beauty and fertility. Nearchus found it uninhabited, but frequented by visitors from the Continent, who annually brought goats there, and, consecrating them to Venus and Mercury, left them to run wild. Hence the probability that it is the same island which is called Aphrodisias by Pliny (Plin. Nat. 6.28), the situation of which is still further determined by his adding inde Persidis initium. Perhaps the ancient name is preserved the modern Keishor Ken. (Vincent, Voyage of Nearchus, vol. 1. p. 362; Ouseley, Travels in the East, 1. p. 270.)
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