N.C. Gen. Stat. § 104-4

All deeds, conveyances, or other title papers for the same shall be recorded, as in other cases, in the office of the register of deeds of the county in which the lands so conveyed may lie, in the same manner and under the same regulations as other deeds and conveyances are now recorded, and in like manner may be recorded a sufficient description by metes and bounds, courses and distances, of any tract or legal division of any public land belonging to the United States, which may be set apart by the general government for the purpose before mentioned, by an order, patent, or other official document or paper so describing such land.