"Pull up, lads, a little; let's see what it is.

It doesn't look to me like a spar." The others, always on the lookout for some new object of interest, were attracted by these words, and looked closely at the thing in question.

The men pulled.

The boat drew nearer.
"It's some sort of floating vessel," said Oxenden.
"It's not a spar," said Melick, who was at the bow.
And as he said this he reached out and grasped at it.

He failed to get it, and did no more than touch it.