Bécat was the third illustrator to provide drawings for this erotic novel set in the French Caribbean, and fulfilled the commission handsomely, assisted by his familiarity with drawing black women from his African days.

Les nuits chaudes du Cap Français (The Hot Nights of the French Cape) was written by the French writer Hugues Rebell, whose real name was Georges Grassal de Choffat (1867–1905). It was first published in 1902, and reissued many times. Heir to a wealthy family of Nantes merchants, Grassal was a dilettante, eccentric and reveller, who had to resort to writing erotic novels to support himself after he had squandered all his inheritance.
 
Fruit of the overflowing imagination of its author, the action of the hot nights takes place in the Caribbean island of Santo Domingo, which later became Haiti. Grassal had never been to the Caribbean, but he was able, no doubt due to good documentation, to bring to life the world of plantation and slavery. He even prided himself on being able to write basic Creole, which gives a touch of authenticity to the story.
 
Through colourful characters like the busty black maid Zinga and the mistress Kouma-Toulou, Grassal portrays the world of colonialism with its intrigues, violence, slavery and racism. Ubiquitous sexuality permeates social relations, especially between masters and slaves, and reflects the reality of the multiple sexual interactions, often violent and unwilling, which lay at the heart of the colonial system.

The Bécat-illustrated Nuits chaudes was published by Éditions Germaine Raoult in a limited edition of 300 copies.