Both Uses of

approach
in
Lord of the Flies

Ralph had been deceived before now by the specious appearance of depth in a beach pool and he approached this one preparing to be disappointed.
p. 12.8

approached = moved toward

Now they approached the darker smudge that had been the signal fire, yawning, rubbing their eyes, treading with practiced feet.
p. 96.6 *

approached = went near

Definitions:

(1) (approach as in: approached the city)
to get closer to (near in space, time, quantity, or quality)
(2) (approach as in: use the best approach)
a way of doing something; or a route that leads to a particular place
(3) (approach as in: approached her with the proposal)
to begin communication with someone about something -- often a proposal or a delicate topic
(4) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)
meaning too rare to warrant focus:

More rarely (and typically only in classic literature), the phrase nearest approach to as used in "her nearest approach to an apology" or "her nearest approach to a smile" typically means that "something is as close to something else as it ever gets." "As near an approach to" can have a similar meaning.