En route, his ship is attacked by pirates, but the crew holds them off. When the narrator remarks that he would rather have joined the pirates or indeed drowned at sea than gone to Botany Bay, Jones is reminded by his captors that any mischief will be met with the whip.
The passage describes a situation where a ship is attacked by pirates, and the crew defends themselves against them. The narrator expresses a preference for joining the pirates or dying at sea rather than going to Botany Bay.  Jones' captors warn him that any wrongdoing will be punished with a whip.